Luis Crisologo Singson also known as Chavit Singson is a Filipino politician and business tycoon – considered as one of the richest people in the Philippines.
He was once the governor of Ilocos Sur for three decades, a former congressman, and the Deputy National Security Adviser for the Philippine government in 2008. He also ran for the Senate in the 2007 elections but lost.
Chavit’s families from both paternal and maternal sides have dominated the political environment of the Ilocos region for generations.
As chairman of the LCS Group of Companies, he was mainly responsible for bringing the Miss Universe pageant back to Manila in 2016 – the third time the country hosted the prestigious beauty pageant, after 1974 and 1994.
The former governor has then become the center of the news after shelling out millions as payment for the rights to hold the pageant in the country, as well as the budget for production, accommodation, transportation, meals for the MUO officials, candidates, and other expenses.
Furthermore, there were reports that Chavit spent another hundred of millions from buying M/Y Happy Life, the luxury yacht that ferried some of the Miss Universe candidates between Manila and Batangas province in one of the pre-pageant events. The boat has five floors and 16 rooms, some of which are equipped with Jacuzzi hot tubs and a karaoke room.
Naturally, people wondered just how rich Singson really is. Chavit has then unveiled his yearly and monthly income as a certified crazy rich Filipino and showed multi-million business empire.
“My net revenues amount to about PHP 120 million a month. There are a lot (of companies). I have many businesses that earn millions. The construction (business) I make billions; the transportation (business), I’m netting around PHP 100 million a month; I’ve earned PHP 1 billion from that in previous years, just for transportation,” the 77-year-old former politician revealed.
In an interview with Entrepreneur PH, Singson was asked how many companies he owns, to which he replied: “There are a lot. Maybe around a hundred. Some of them aren’t in my name.”
Aside from the renowned Baluarte, an 80-hectare interactive wildlife sanctuary that has become a tourist destination in his home province.
Singson also mentioned several new ventures: a commercial airline that flies domestic and international routes, his bank in Puerto Rico (Vigan Banco International) now has branches in Los Angeles (California) and Mexico, and GO Sport, one of Europe’s largest sporting goods chains, that will soon open local branches.
However, it is no secret that Singson’s name has been dragged along with different controversies, one of which is due to his long years in politics. Filipinos are quick to point out that some of his wealth arose from using his political position and influence especially when he got involved with one of the country’s biggest political scandals – former President Joseph Estrada’s impeachment and eventual ouster from power over accusations of receiving millions of pesos from ‘jueteng,’ an illegal numbers game.
Nevertheless, Singson insists his wealth came from legitimate business activities and not from corruption or illegal activities. “My father was an engineer. We had a construction (business) when I was born. I worked to make it grow. So (my wealth) came from somewhere,” he told Entrepreneur PH.
He also became involved in tobacco trading as a young man, which proved to be a huge cash cow. “That’s how I earned my millions when I was younger. I was able to buy the electrical plant of Vigan when I was only 23 or 24 years old.”
source: entrepreneur