FROM THE PCIJ FILES
IN THIS series, we will share to you our files about the wealth, campaign contributions and spending, and social network of elected government officials of the Philippines.
Senators Alan Peter Cayetano, Aquilino Martin Pimentel, and Antonio Trillanes IV – all Palace allies – have figured prominently in the Upper House’ investigation on the allegations of corruption against Vice-President Jejomar Binay (See our report Binay by the Numbers).
On the Public Profiles section of our MoneyPolitics website, Sen. Cayetano’s wealth was reported to have risen by nearly half in 2011 to P23.2 million, from only P15.9 million in 2010, after he first ran for senator.
Cayetano’s career in politics has spanned two decades. He started out as councilor of his family’s bailiwick of Taguig City in 1992, became vice mayor in 1995, and won three consecutive terms as congressman of Pateros City from 1998 to 2007. Cayetano was elected senator in 2007; and ran for re-election in May 2013.
Click the photo to go to the Public Profiles page of Sen. Cayetano.
SENATOR ALLAN PETER S. CAYETANO Photo from senate.gov.ph
Senator Pimentel, on the other hand, has so far filed two Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) since he assumed office as senator. His net worth stood at P17.67 million as of August 2011; it dropped to P17.08 million in his December 2011 SALN.
In August 2011, Aquilino Martin ‘Koko’ L. Pimentel became the 12th senator of the 15th Congress, after winning an electoral protest that he filed in May 2007 before the Senate Electoral Tribunal against then sitting senator Miguel Zubiri. The tribunal’s recount established that Pimentel got 257,000 more votes than Zubiri in the 2007 elections.
From 1995 to 1998, Pimentel served as commissioner for Mindanao of the National Youth Commission, under then President Joseph Estrada. Pimentel has practiced law and taught at the Far Eastern University, De La Salle University, and the University of the East.
Click on the photo to go the Public Profiles page of Sen. Pimentel.
SEN. AQUILINO PIMENTEL | Photo from senate.gov.ph
Former coup plotter and ex-soldier Antonio Trillanes IV, on the other hand, was reported to have a net worth that recorded minimal gains from 2007 to 2011. His liabilities, however, soared from zero in 2007 to P1.6 million in 2009 and then to P6.8 million in 2011. His wealth currently stands at P3.9 million, making him the poorest – in terms of reported net worth — of the 23 incumbent senators of the 15th Congress.
He is known as one of the leaders of the group of soldiers that staged the Oakwood Mutiny in July 2003 and the Peninsula Manila siege in November 2007.
Trillanes ran for senator in the May 2007 elections and won despite being detained in Camp Crame. His petition for provisional release was later granted by the court after President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III issued Proclamation No. 75 that granted amnesty to military officers involved in coup attempts during the Arroyo administration.
Click on the photo to go the Public Profiles page of Sen. Trillanes.
SEN. ANTONIO TRILLANES IV | Photo from senate.gov.ph