WALANG PAGBABAGO | From congresswoman to VP, Leni’s wealth of over P8M neither grew nor shrank significantly

May 16, 2017 - 4:41 PM
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Vice President Leni Robredo/OVP file photo

MANILA, Philippines – Since she became a public official – from congresswoman to vice president – Leni Robredo’s wealth had neither grown nor shrunk significantly, standing steady basically at P8 million, with little ups and downs from 2013 to 2016, copies of her Statement of Assets and Liabilities (SALN) show.

In the last four years, Robredo’s wealth only grew 7 percent to a little more than P585,000. At the end of 2016, she declared a net worth of almost P8.878 million, which was slightly higher than her net worth of P8.292 million in 2013. [SEE CHART BELOW]

It was only by end of June 2016 that Robredo’s net worth significantly grew by 27 percent to P11.053 million from P8.712 million at the end of 2015 – only to decrease again by almost 20 percent by end of 2016 to P8.878 million.

Cash briefly up and then down again

Her June 30, 2016 net worth increase can be attributed to the rise in her total cash assets worth P11.115 million. This was 8 percent or P841,000 higher than Robredo’s declared total cash assets of P10.273 million as of Dec. 31, 2015.

However, her cash assets by the end of 2016 dropped 20 percent to P2.175 million from P11.115 million in June 2016 to P8.94 million in December of the same year.

Liabilities decrease but expected to increase again

When it comes to her liabilities, her SALNs for the last two years show that Robredo was able to pay some of her debts.

Her 2015 SALN shows that the Vice President borrowed a total of P8.4 million from the following:

-Estate of Marcelina Robredo, the mother of Leni’s husband Jesse Robredo – P1 million

-Estate of Jose Robredo, the father of Jesse Robredo – P2 million

-Jose Robredo Jr., Leni’s brother-in-law – P1.65 million

-Jocelyn Austria, Leni’s sister-in-law – P2.5 million

-Salvacion Gerona, Leni’s mother – P1.25 million

Her 2016 SALN shows that the Vice President’s total loans decreased to P6.9 million as she was able to reduce her debts from:

-Jose Robredo Jr. – P1.15 million (from P1.65 million)

-Jocelyn Austria – P2 million (from P2.5 million)

-Salvacion Gerona – P750,000 (from P1.25 million)

It is expected that in the first six months of 2017, Leni’s liabilities will again increase after she said earlier this month that she had borrowed funds from her late husband’s relatives Vicente Hao Chin, Pablito Chua, and Rafael Bundoc to pay for the cash deposit that the Supreme Court required from her for her counter-protest case against 2016 vice presidential rival Ferdinand “Bongbong’ marcos Jr.

No new assets

Meanwhile, a comparison of Robredo’s 2015 and 2016 SALNs show that Robredo didn’t acquire new assets.

Her real state properties all located in Naga City and with a total acquisition cost of P1.735 million consisting of one house and lot and seven other lots – two residential, three agricultural, an orchard, and a memorial lot – were the same assets that she listed in 2015 and 2016.

She still has two cars – a Toyota Innova that she acquired in 2010 for P1.123 million and a Toyota Grandia that she bought in 2014 for P1.75 million.

Her furniture, appliance, and other equipment had the same acquisition cost of P1.5 million in 2015 and 2016.

Robredo’s jewelry acquisition also did not increase and was valued at P100,000 in both 2015 and 2016.

Also, the Vice President’s declared prepaid insurance was worth P630,000 last year and in 2015.