The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the economic landscape in 2020, resulting in a plunge to the collective wealth of the Philippines' 50 richest according to Forbes in its report last September 2020. Now we look at the real-time list and see the changes in ranks and net worths since last year
Total net worth figures are based on the Forbes' Real-Time Billionaires List and Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which is a daily ranking of the world's richest people. The ranking stated in this article is updated as of 5 March 2021.
Last May 2020, we released a list of the richest Filipino billionaires included in the initial list by Forbes. Later in September, unprecedented events happened that caused a shuffle in that list. One of these is the sudden passing of Danding Cojuangco. Another is the debut of Lance Gokongwei—the son of the late John and Elizabeth Gokongwei—to the billionaire's list together with his siblings.
Also by the second quarter of 2020, the Philippine economy suffered a major setback with 16.5 per cent drop in GDP. This led to the country's annual GDP plunge by 9.5 per cent, the worst economic growth rate since the Second World War.
Nevertheless, we have seen the resilience of our leading tycoons in the fight against COVID-19, and other causes that needed to be immediately addressed last year. Ramon Ang made headlines last 2020 for the achievements in transportation, public works, and healthcare industries. The philanthropic efforts and innovative business initiatives have been also evident in the performances of Hans Sy, Enrique Razon, Andrew Tan, and the Ayala Group of Companies, among others.
We also saw Edgar "Injap" Sia II rose to the ranks being "the biggest gainer in both percentage and dollar terms... partly due to the successful initial public offering (IPO) of his MerryMart in June", according to Forbes. In connection with that, DoubleDragon Properties Corp. becomes the second listed company in the country to offer real estate investment trust (REIT), running on the main board of Philippine Stock Exchange this March.
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Moreover, financial experts are positive that we will recover from the economic repercussions of the pandemic. The fiscal policies in 2020 have greatly increased the unemployment rate but still, it opened doors for medium to small enterprises and online businesses, keeping the economy afloat.
As the first quarter of 2021 approaches its end, let us take a look at the real-time list of the richest Filipinos that have made it to the Forbes' World Billionaires List, as of today.