Who are the richest, poorest presidentiables?

 First of two parts

Out of the leading national candidates in the 2016 elections, a scion of one of the most prominent families in the country – Manuel “Mar” Araneta Roxas II – is the richest, based on the candidates' latest Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN).

In the 2014 SALN he filed when he was Interior Secretary, Roxas declared that he had P283,963,236.78 in  real and personal properties including stocks at the Philippine National Bank, PLDT, Piltel, Manila Doctors Hospital, Manila Polo Club, and others.

Liabilities worth P81,882,784.07 leave Mar with a net worth of P202,080,452.71 as of December 31, 2014.

From the estate of his father, the late Sen. Gerardo Roxas, Mar also has stakes in Jollibee, Camp John Hay Golf Club, Wack-Wack Golf and Country Club, Baguio Country Club, Club Filipino, Santa Elena Golf Club, as well as mining companies such as Lepanto Consolidataed Mining, Manila Mining Corporation, among others.

Mar is a grandson of the late President Manuel Roxas, a lawyer who served as head of state after the Second World War, from May 28, 1946 to April 15, 1948.

For his part, Mar is an economist who became known as  “Mr. Palengke” during his stint as Trade Secretary before he was elected as senator in 2004.

He had pushed for the development of the palengke or public market as the basic unit of the economy. He had also advocated for the development of  small and medium enterprises (SMEs) even though he comes from a prominent family engaged in some of the biggest businesses in the country.

His mother is Judy Araneta Roxas, vice-chairman of the Araneta Group with business interests in food, leisure, and property development, including the firm's crown jewel: the 35-hectare Araneta Center shopping complex in Cubao, Quezon City, with about 1M visitors daily. 

In the country's last elections in 2013, Judy and other members of the Araneta clan are said to be the biggest campaign contributors of the Liberal Party. Mar's uncle Jorge Araneta, president and chief executive officer of the Araneta Group, shelled out P25 million; Judy, P20 million; Mar's aunt Maria Fores, P10 million, among others. All in all, Mar's family donated P72.7 million or about 40 percent of the P183.2 million contributions received by LP.

Mar is an Economics graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Economics. He had worked as an investment banker in New York. Mar only entered politics when his brother Dinggoy passed away in 1992.

Dinggoy had won a second term as a member of the House of Representatives in the 1992 elections but died a few months after.  Mar won in the special elections held later.

Actor's daughter

Meanwhile, when it comes to the richest leading presidential candidates, the one who comes after Mar is a famous actor's daughter, Mary Grace Poe-Llamanzares, whose father is Fernando Poe Jr. a.k.a. FPJ or “Da King.”

FPJ, dubbed the “King of Philippine movies” and declared a National Artist in 2012, was believed to have a net worth of P254 million before he passed away in December 2004, just months after losing the presidential bid to former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

According to a report of Newsbreak, FPJ Productions, a four-decade-old company owned by FPJ and his wife – actress Susan Roces, and other family members, reported a profit of P2.6M in 2002. The company has no debts.

In her 2014 SALN, Grace declared that part of her assets worth  P126,955,615.31 includes P2,235,772 shares of stock in FPJ Productions. She indicated that she inherited these stocks in 2008. 

The other properties she inherited include P7,375,000 shares of stock in 226 Wilson Development Corporation, a P18.9M property in Quezon City (one-fourth share), P8.4M property in San Juan, among others.

With liabilities worth P37,490, 795.95, Grace is left with a net worth of P89,464,819.36.

While most of the candidates' SALNs reveal an upward trend in their net worths, Sen. Poe's SALNs reveal a significant downward trend in net worth. In November 2010, she had total assets worth P197,847,094, liabilities of P45,313,800, for a net worth of P152,533,294.

In 2013, she had a net worth of P148,949,908.05  but this went down by P59.4 million in 2014 to only P89,464,819.36.

“Stupid is Forever”

Out of all the leading presidential candidates in the 2016 elections, only one – Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago reported assets from “Intellectual Property,” the royalties she earned, P160,000, from her successful book “Stupid is Forever,” a collection of jokes, one-liners, pick-up lines, and speeches.

Santiago, a tough-talking lawyer, has become a media and social media darling because of her humorous quotes and one-liners such as: “Ang crush parang math problem. Kung hindi mo makuha, titigan mo na lang” or “Dalawang beses lang naman kitang gustong makasama: now and forever.”

Santiago, a graduate of the University of the Philippines' College of Law, also holds a Doctor of Juridical Science (Barbour Scholar and DeWitt Fellow) from the University of Michigan.

Her 2014 SALN shows assets worth P123,033,539, liabilities of  P50M, for a net worth of P73,033,539. Santiago's assets include interests in several businesses that include Narsan Holdings, NS & MD (NS stands for Narciso Santiago – Miriam's husband) Corporation, and Defensor Santiago Law Firm.

Flower shop

While many presidential candidates revealed having several businesses, one candidate – Vice President Jejomar Binay – declared only one business interest in his 2014 SALN: a flower shop, Blooms and Bouquet, a sole proprietorship of his wife, Dr. Elenita Binay, former mayor of Makati City.

VP Binay, a human rights lawyer during the Marcos era, was appointed mayor of Makati City after the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution. He was later elected to the same post in several elections, having served as Makati mayor for 21 years before he won the vice presidency in the 2010 elections.

Binay, in 2014, declared assets worth P76,301,436, liabilities of P16,050,453, for a net worth of P60,250,983.

Until 2009, Binay declared having another business aside from Blooms and Bouquet: JCB Farms, a piggery in Rosario, Batangas. JCB are the initials of the Vice President: Jejomar Cabauatan Binay.

JCB Farms made the news in 2014 when Binay became subject of allegations of corruption due to the alleged overpriced parking building in Makati City.

In a Senate blue ribbon subcommittee hearing in 2014, lawyer Renato Bondal said the 11-storey Makati City Parking building was overpriced by 300 percent or about P2 billion.

Citing a city ordinance issued in 2008, Bondal claimed that the city government allocated P2.7 billion for the construction of the project but only declared P1.5 billion as the total cost of the project.

Investigations into the alleged overpricing of the building later expanded as questions were also raised about Binay's other properties that also allegedly included the 350-hectare JCB Farms in Rosario town in Batangas.

Former Makati City Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado estimated the property to be worth P1.2 billion, adding that it has a British palace garden, a mansion with resort pool, a 40-car garage, an orchid farm, an air-conditioned piggery, and a fighting cock farm.

However, Binay, through the Office of the Vice President-Media Affairs Division (OVP-MAD), said Binay had disposed of his interests in the farm. In 1994, JCB shares were worth P400,000 .

According to OVP-MAD, Binay started a piggery business in Rosario, Batangas through a sole proprietorship in 1994. The VP's office explained that JCB Farms is "a mere lessee of a 9-hectare property in Rosario, Batangas."

Joey Salgado, OVP-MAD head, said  JCB Farms earned for the Vice President an additional net income of P44,350,921.88 from 1994 to 2010 and that Binay paid taxes amounting to P15,889,581.83 during the said period.

"Poorest"

Meanwhile, based on their SALNs, the "poorest" leading presidential candidate is Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, the highly controversial official, who claimed to have killed 1,700 people.

Known for his strong stance against illegal drugs and other forms of criminality, Duterte is also criticized for alleged human rights violations. To this, Duterte, known for cracking jokes, said, "Patay naman sila so ano pang iisyuhin natin diyan?"

A self-confessed womanizer with "two wives and two girlfriends," Duterte has also been criticized for kissing women in his campaign trail but he said he is merely flirting in a harmless way.

Duterte has three children from his first wife --Paolo Zimmerman Duterte;
Sara "Inday Sara" Zimmerman Duterte-Carpio, and Sebastian Zimmerman Duterte. He has another child, Veronica Avancena Duterte, from his second wife.

GMA News Research has only copies of Duterte's 2005 and 2008 SALNs. His 2008 SALN shows that he has P16,315,925.08 in assets, P1M in liabilities, for a net worth of P15,315,925.08.

Duterte, a lawyer, declared being an incoporator of Honda Cars-General Santos City. — RSJ/JST, GMA News

Note: All figures are based on SALNs obtained by GMA News Research. The numbers shown are those declared on SALNs. Some figures do not add up.