President Duterte has slammed the exploitation of the party list system by rich people, whom he accused of using their money to squeeze themselves into Congress. The rich people fund the party list,” the President said in his speech at the oathtaking of newly elected local officials in Cagayan de Oro City on Wednesday night. Duterte said the party list system—which was originally meant to give representation to the “marginalized” sectors—had become “one evil” abused by the rich. The second richest party list representative is Virgilio Lacson of Manila Teachers with a net worth of P793.87 million. Other wealthy party list representatives include Delphine Lee (Agri, P254.3 million), Jesulito Manalo (Angkla, P124.5 million), and Milagros Magsaysay (Senior Citizen, P95.7 million).

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer June 13, 2019 21:00 UTC