Rain Varela
Staff Writer
Boxing Superstar Manny Pacquiao is still the wealthiest member of the lower house of the Philippine Congress. This is according to a declaration of assets and liabilities made public by the Philippine government.
Pacquiao, who is fresh off his victory after a fight with Timothy Bradley last April 12 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, has an estimated declared net worth of around $30 million.
He was first elected to the Philippine House of Representatives in 2010 representing the Province of Sarangani. He was re-elected in 2013, and his wife Jinkee Pacquiao was also elected Vice-Governor of the same province.
But Pacquiao is not the only famous person on the list. At number 2 is former Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos. She first rose to fame as the wife of former Dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who ruled the Philippines for 20 years. She would later gain worldwide notoriety for her lavish lifestyle and her 3,000 pair of shoes that were discovered in her ballroom sized wardrobe when her husband was ousted from power.
Since then, her family has made a comeback in politics. Her son is now a Senator, one of her daughters is a provincial governor, and her nephew is the Mayor of Tacloban, a city that made global headlines for being hit by super storm Haiyan.
She first won a seat in the lower house in 1995, representing her home province of Leyte, but she currently holds a seat representing her husband’s province of Ilocos Norte. She was the subject of Here Lies Love, a concept album and rock musical by Fatboy Slim and David Byrne which featured Cyndi Lauper and Tori Amos on backup vocals. After much of her properties were seized after her husband’s ousting, she isn’t as wealthy as she used to be, but her current declared net worth is around $21 million, so we think she’s doing just fine.