Villar is richest Cabinet member; Mariano is poorest
Mark Villar —JOAN BONDOC
With a net worth of P1.4 billion, Public Works Secretary Mark Villar, 38, is the richest member and the only billionaire in the Cabinet, according to his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN).
Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael Mariano is the poorest, with a net worth of only P273,629.
Malacañang on Thursday released the SALNs of Villar, Mariano and 26 other members of President Duterte’s Cabinet upon the request of the Malacañang Press Corps. The request was made on May 4.
Villar’s SALN showed that he owned seven homes worth P134,865,507.
Villar, a son of former Senate President and real estate magnate Manuel Villar Jr., listed four condominiums (two in Taguig and two in Makati) and three houses and lots (in Pasig, Las Piñas and Glendale California) under his name.
The former Las Piñas congressman had P1,423,674,972 in total assets and P14,525,475 in liabilities.
After Villar, the next richest Cabinet members were Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez (P351,859,283), Information and Communications Technology Secretary Rodolfo Salalima (P304,961,439), Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade (P301,999,204).
Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi (P162,701,642), Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Martin Andanar (P152,272,523), Socioeconomic Secretary Ernesto Pernia (P105,431,605), Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano (P54,737,374), Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez (P50.5 million).
Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon Teo (P44,910,950), Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza (P40,044,880), Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II (P37,632,069), Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol (P25,599,632); National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. (P22.245 million).
Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno (P19,814,429), National Intelligence Coordinating Agency chief Alex Paul Monteaguado (P16.505 million), Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III (P15,450,000), Interior Secretary Catalino Cuy (P14.7 million), National Commission on Muslim Filipinos Secretary Yasmin Lao (P13,908,027).
Presidential Management Staff acting chief Ferdinand Cui Jr. (P7,981,610), Science Secretary Fortunato dela Peña (P7.451 million), Education Secretary Leonor Briones (P4,387,498), Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana (P3.656 million), Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo (P1,973,520), Health Secretary Paulyn Jean Ubial (P1.16 million), and National Anti-Poverty Commission chair Liza Maza (P730,716).
Modest lifestyle
Humble beginnings and staying with family is Mariano’s secret to a modest lifestyle.
“First, I come from a family of peasant farmers who still don’t have their own land. It’s around two hectares (that does not yield a regular harvest)… and it’s still under the name of our deceased father,” said Mariano, a former Anakpawis representative.
“As for a house, we do have an ancestral house in Quezon, Nueva Ecija, but it’s our children—for a long time the eldest, then the youngest—who usually stay there,” Mariano said.
In Metro Manila, he lives in an apartment rented by one of his children.
The SALNs of five Cabinet members—Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence Go, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr., Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo—were not available.
