Loot’s net worth down to P51.9M from P108M

Daanbantayan mayor: 2016 assets do not include those of his wife’s, who is not a public official anymore

Daanbantayan Mayor Vicente Loot has declared his net worth of P51.9 million in 2016, which is more or less half of his P108 million net worth of 2015.

Loot provided Cebu Daily News a soft copy of his Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) that he said he submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman.

He was one of the 10 mayorswhose SALNs could not be located because they were still sorting the archives of their office, according to an officer of the Central Records department of the Office of the Ombudsman, who asked not to be named for lack of authority to speak to speak on the matter.

San Remigio town mayor Mariano Martinez, who was one of the 10 mayors, earlier provided CDN a copy of his SALN which also indicated being received by the Ombudsman.

Liloan town Mayor Christina Frasco, who was also one of the ten mayors whose SALN could not be located, also said in a Facebook post that she filed her SALN twice, the latest two days after the June 30 deadline.

For Loot, despite his net worth being down by half as compared to his 2015 SALN, he is still one of the millionaire mayors of Cebu.

According to the soft copy the mayor sent online, he submitted his financial records on April 28, or two days before the April 30 deadline.

It can be recalled that Ombudsman Conchita Carpio – Morales reminded all government officials and employees, during the first quarter of 2017, to submit their SALN before the April 30 deadline – a reminder which can be found in the Office of the Ombudsman’s website.

Loot’s net worth of P51.9 million for 2016 is half lesser than the one he declared for the year 2015 (P108 million).

When asked why his net worth has decreased in half, Loot said in a text message to CDN that the assets he declared on his SALN were just his alone.

He said he filed a separate SALN before the Ombudsman, which meant that he did not include the assets that belonged to his wife, former Daanbantayan mayor Ma. Luisa Loot.

The former mayor is now a businesswoman and is not connected with the government.

“There is a decrease in my SALN because I excluded the paraphernal properties (assets) of my wife. Previously, my wife and I jointly filed our SALNs since she was then also served as a public servant. Now that she’s no longer one, I believe it is just right that I claim and declare only those acquired during the effectivity of the absolute community regime,” explained Loot.

“To be candid about it, if we have not jointly filed our SALNs before, I won’t be registering a considerable sum of asset, except for my salary and allowances,” he added.

The Loots have been consistently leading the list of wealthiest and most cash-rich mayors in Cebu. In 2012, Ma. Luisa was found out to be the richest mayor in Cebu with a net worth of P108 million while her husband admitted that he was among the wealthiest PNP officials in the province.

The Loots have an annual taxable income of P1.5 million.

Ma. Luisa, according to her husband’s SALN, is now working as a businesswoman, managing their family’s businesses that include a real estate lessor, and a lending firm, both of which are based in Mandaue City.

Out of the 17 real estate properties, which over-all has a total value of P37.1 million, Loot’s SALN revealed that five of them – two house and lots and a commercial property in Mandaue City, and two agricultural lots in Daanbantayan town – were labelled to belong to Ma. Luisa.

It was also shown on his SALN that the Loots once owned a cockpit arena in Mandaue City, but as of July 2016, it was sold for a total amount of P30 million.

Mayor Loot’s personal properties amounted to P21 million that includes at least four vehicles while his liabilities come in the form of loans with a total amount of P7 million.

President Rodrigo Duterte tagged incumbent mayor Loot as a drug coddler in 2016 but the latter has denied the allegations. In response, Loot said that his wealth was acquired “in legal and clean means,” and not from drug money.

The massive amount of wealth he amassed also led the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to conduct a lifestyle check on him in 2009.

Loot was first elected as mayor of Daanbantayan in 2016. Incumbent Provincial Board (PB) member Sun Shimura, representing Cebu’s 4th District, is also his stepson.