Election topnotcher Villar also leads list of richest senators

MANILA, Philippines — Senators Cynthia Villar and Manny Pacquiao are the richest in the Senate for the fifth year in a row, with net worths amounting to P3.719 billion and P3.005 billion, respectively.

The two solons have led the list since 2015, with Sen. Pacquiao bumping Sen. Ralph Recto, who has a net worth of P522 million, to the third spot.

READ: Cynthia Villar, Manny Pacquiao still richest senators

Sen. Villar and Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, who is winding down business as a senator, both retained their positions as the princess and the pauper of the Senate, respectively. 

Sen. Trillanes’ net worth is at P7.5 million.

The Villars are famed for their multimillion-dollar real estate business, landing former Senate President Manny Villar in the 317th spot on Forbes’ list of richest billionaires in 2019. Villar is also the country's richest man.

The Villars also recently invested $35 million for their family-owned Vista Land and Lifescapes shopping mall development.

Meanwhile, Trillanes’ net worth saw a P2-million increase from his P5.5-million net worth in 2014.

Trillanes,a known critic of President Rodrigo Duterte, has recently been accused as being the mastermind behind the "Ang Totoong Narcolist" videos, an allegation he has denied and that the police have acknowledged has yet to be substantiated with evidence.

The outgoing senator’s trial resumed Monday after an eight-year recess at the Makati Regional Trial Court. Trillanes was charged with rebellion over the 2007 Manila Peninsula siege and, despite amnesty granted to him in 2010, is facing the revived case. —With Philstar.com intern/Blanch Marie Ancla