Marcos SALN puts him on billionaires’ row; Sara net worth P88.5M
President Marcos was among the country’s billionaire politicians last year, with an appraised net worth of P1.375 billion in 2024, more than Sen. Mark Villar’s P1.26 billion and Sen. Raffy Tulfo’s P1.05 billion.
In comparison, Vice President Sara Duterte reported a relatively modest P88.5-million net worth for the same year.
The figures were taken from the statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) of the two highest officials of the country, which were obtained by the Inquirer from the Office of the Ombudsman on Thursday after former Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla took over as Ombudsman last month and relaxed the rules for making the documents public.
Resigned Rep. Zaldy Co, the former Ako Bicol representative at the center of the multibillion-peso flood control scandal, had an estimated net worth last year of P5 billion, according to his lawyer Ruy Rondain.
The other billionaire lawmakers, whose SALNs for 2024 had not yet been publicly disclosed, were Cynthia Villar, who had a declared net worth of around P3.8 billion in 2020, and Manny Pacquiao, with P3.18 billion also in 2020. Villar’s term ended this year and Pacquiao lost his reelection bid.
Mr. Marcos’ and Duterte’s SALNs for the years 2022, 2023 and 2024, showed a rise in their net worth.
According to the Vice President’s SALN, her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, became a shareholder in a security agency in Manila in 2023, a year before the Duterte said that she was contemplating hiring private bodyguards for personal protection, as ties between her and the President started to sour.
Duterte’s 2024 SALN showed that her husband became an incorporator in three companies in 2023 and 2024. These were Mati City Ice Plant and Cold Storage Inc. in Mati, Davao Oriental; Amianan Shores Inc. in Pasig City; and Cabletow 88 Shipping and Marine Services Inc. in Davao City.
Security concerns
At a press conference in December last year, Duterte said that she would seek security protection outside of the Armed Forces of the Philippines if the military leadership would not let her keep her old security detail.
A month earlier, the AFP replaced the entire unit of the Vice President Security and Protection Group and reorganized it into the new AFP Security and Protection Group (AFPSPG) to integrate and optimize protection for the Vice President and other top officials.
Duterte said that she might tap private security services. When pressed by reporters on where she would obtain funding for that, the Vice President said her husband could “make arrangements” for her.
Duterte did not mention at that time that her husband was already a shareholder in the Manila-based Geometry Security and Investigation Agency Inc.
Joint declaration
The Vice President had encountered problems concerning her personal protection after her rift with the President broke out in the open and she resigned as education secretary in July 2024.
The President and first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos jointly declared a net worth of P371.5 million in 2022, the year he was elected. This rose to P389.3 million in 2024.
This included their personal and real properties consisting of agricultural, commercial, cultural, residential and mixed properties, combined with their newly acquired properties in 2022 and 2023.
An appraisal by the asset valuation company Cuervo Appraisers Inc., said the first couple’s net worth was P1.375 billion in 2024, or more than 3.5 times what they had declared. This grew from an appraised net worth amounting to P960.7 million in 2022 and P1.15 billion in 2023.
126 paintings
The President’s 2024 net worth rose mainly due to additional real properties valued at P142.02 million, along with personal properties that included jewelry and 12 vehicles, including a Mercedes-Benz Maybach S680 worth P10.5 million, plus artworks amounting to P74.4 million.
Among the artworks were 126 paintings, including works by Fernando Amorsolo, Jose Joya, Vicente Manansala, Ben Cabrera and one drawing by national hero Jose Rizal, of Juan Luna and Felix Hidalgo called “Los dos pintores.”
One Amorsolo called “Seated Woman with a Bashful Smile” has an appraised value of P8 million. Manansala’s “Nude (Woman in a chair)” was valued at P800,000. One of the President’s 17 Cabreras, “Peasant Woman,” was valued at P2.2 million.
Joya’s “Ocean Gem” was worth P19 million, the highest appraised value of the President’s collection of paintings.
The President’s newly acquired properties included three agricultural lots in Laoag City, a residential property in La Union and a cultural house in Batac, Ilocos Norte, which he inherited in 2022.
7 residential properties
The President has seven other residential properties in Laguna, Parañaque City, San Juan City and Laoag; five agricultural properties in La Trinidad, Benguet, and in Cabuyao, Laguna; two mixed properties in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte, and San Fernando, La Union; and a commercial property in Batac, Ilocos Norte.
The President’s SALN indicated that half of the San Juan and Parañaque properties were donated to him by his mother, former first lady Imelda Marcos.
The first couple declared no liabilities from 2022 to 2024, unlike Duterte and her husband during those years.
71 to 77, then 88
Duterte’s and her husband’s joint 2024 SALN indicated a net worth of P88.5 million, which grew from P71.6 million in 2022 and P77.5 million in 2023.
Her SALNs also reflected liabilities from her husband’s loans. In 2022, Carpio obtained a personal loan amounting to P3.1 million from “various creditors.”
He borrowed P2.5 million in 2023 and in the following year, his total loans grew to P9.9 million from various creditors and an unnamed bank.
Duterte’s declared real property assets for 2024 alone was valued at P66.8 million. These include several residential, agricultural and other properties in Davao City, Island Garden City of Samal, Mandaluyong City and Parañaque City.
Duterte’s most recent acquisition was a residential property in Samal amounting to P4.3 million that she purchased in 2023, while her husband acquired two residential lots in 2024, one amounting to P10 million and the other P2 million.
