Villar richest senator with P760M, Flavier 'poorest'

The country’s richest senator is still Sen. Manuel Villar, whose net worth was pegged at P759.8 million with zero liability, and the "poorest" is Senate President pro tempore Juan Flavier, worth "only" P3.49 million. Villar and Flavier, along with the 21 other senators, bared their respective statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) for 2005, which was made public on Monday. Villar, who made his riches by selling low-cost housing units to middle-class families, was also the richest member of the House of Representatives before he became senator in 2001. His real estate properties are allegedly only worth P4.6 million. His wife, Las Pinas Rep. Cynthia Villar, is also the richest lawmaker in the House of Representatives. Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile stated that his has real estate properties worth only P1,000, explaining that most of the lands that allegedly belonged to him were family-owned. He declared his net worth to be only P97 million. Sen. Ralph Recto is second richest senator with a net worth of P267.4 million and liabilities of P11.1 million. Senators Ramon Magsaysay Jr., Maria Ana Consuelo “Jamby" Madrigal and Sen. Ramon “Bong" Revilla Jr. complete the “Top 5" with assets valued at P150.8 million, P114.2 million and P99.4 million, respectively. Revilla had the most number of real estate properties worth P86.6 million followed by Sen. Jinggoy Ejercito-Estrada with real estate properties valued at P67.9 million. Sen. Jinggoy has a net worth of P81.5 million while his mother, Sen. Luisa Ejercito-Estrada only has assets valued at P32.6 million [liabilities placed at P169.2 million]. Other Senators in the top 10 riches are Mar Roxas (P75.8M), Pia Cayetano (P75.4M), and Miriam Defensor-Santiago with a net worth of P72.05 million. Occupying the 11th to 22nd slots are: Senators Sergio Osmena III (P63.2 million), Edgardo Angara (P36.2M), Loi Estrada (P32.6M), Rodolfo Biazon (P25.5M), Panfilo “Ping" Lacson (P24.9M), Richard Gordon (P24.9M), Senate President Franklin Drilon (P21M), Sen. Francis Pangilinan (P14.3M), Sen. Joker Arroyo (P11M), Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Nene" Pimentel (P10.96M), Sen. Manuel “Lito" Lapid (P10.93), and Sen. Alfredo Lim (P10.8M). The 24-seat Senate is one of the two chambers of Congress. Only 23 seats are now occupied, following the election of then Sen. Noli De Castro as Vice President in 2004. Senators have six-year terms. They are voted at large, 12 in each election.-GMANews.TV