House Deputy Speaker and 1PACMAN Partylist Rep. Michael I. Romero was again included in Forbes' elite list of 50 richest Filipinos, ranking no. 46th with an estimated net worth of $135 million or around P6.5 billion.
(Mikee Romero blogspot / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
He is one of two members of the 18th Congress to be named one of the Philippines' wealthiest.
While incumbent Senator Cynthia Villar’s name was not mentioned in the list, she, nonetheless, is considered the second richest in the country. Forbes named former Senate President Manny Villar the second wealthiest with a net worth of $5 billion, mainly from the family’s real estate business. Under Philippine laws, assets, liabilities, and net worth of a legally married couple are jointly owned.
The Philippines' boxing pride and 1PACMAN partylist backer Senator Manny Pacquiao failed to make it to the Forbes list but remains one of the country’s wealthiest.
Romero was among the four Filipino multi-billionaires to be inducted to the list of the world’s most affluent in the 2020 group. The three others are no Luis Virata (No. 48), $115 million; Mikel Aboitiz (No. 49), $110 million; and Lourdes Montinola (No. 50), $100 million.
At only 47, Romero, whose business interests include ports, professional basketball management, and airlines is the fourth youngest in the Forbes list.
Currently the president of the Partylist Coalition Foundation Inc., the second biggest political coalition in the Lower House, Romero has been going around the country to personally oversee his partylist organization’s distribution of relief assistance to Filipinos economically displaced by the COVID 19 pandemic and frontliners in the fight against the pandemic.
As deputy speaker, the partylist solon also regularly presides over the plenary sessions of the Lower Chamber and is an active participant in legislative proceedings being conducted by the legislative body.
This is the fifth time that Romero’s name surfaced in the Forbes annual record of most affluent individuals. He filed a total of 233 bills during the 18th Congress, many of which concerned poverty alleviation, environmental protection, and agriculture and food.
According to Forbes, the pandemic has contributed to a drop of net worth of at least 32 Filipinos in the richest list.
Villar reportedly sustained a $1.6 billion reduction in his total net worth but the balance of $5 billion still placed him second.
The Sy siblings, operators of the chain of shopping malls in the country, reportedly saw their wealth diminished by $3.3 billion. However, they still landed on the top spot as the richest Filipinos with $13.9 billion net worth.