SALN WATCH: Sharon is among top taxpayers in PH yet Kiko's not on roster of richest senators. Why?

Tweet

InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5

MANILA, Philippines - Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan is married to Sharon Cuneta, one of the richest showbiz personalities in the Philippines and among the country's top taxpayers. But readers might ask why Pangilinan only declared a relatively meager net worth in his 2011 Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN), which he submitted to the Senate last April. 

With an income of over P52 million and a paid income tax of close to P17 million, Cuneta ranked 58th in the top individual taxpayers for 2010, based on the list from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR). 

Data for Cuneta's 2011 income have not yet been made available by the BIR. Nonetheless, it is expected that she will still be among the top taxpayers last year as she remains to be among the country's most bankable stars who signed a lucrative contract with TV5 last November. 

If this is the case, why is it that Pangilinan's 2011 net worth was only P14.56 million?

In his SALN, the senator did not list business interests and financial connections including those of his wife and children. 

Why is this so?  

It appears that before Kiko and Sharon got married in 1996, they signed a pre-nuptial agreement.

Without a prenuptial agreement, it is assumed that there is absolute community of properties between husband and wife. In layman's terms, the couple promises each other, "What's yours is mine, and what's mine is yours."

A prenuptial agreement appears to have accomplished the opposite for Pangilinan and Cuneta, separating the couple's properties into his and hers. In Pangilinan's declaration, therefore, Sharon's properties were not included in the SALN form of her husband and in the computatation of the senator's net worth. 

Follow @interaksyon