It turns out that Sen. Chiz, at least on paper, is the poorest senator, with a net worth of a little more than P18 million. Incidentally, Sen. Jinggoy is not at the bottom this time — albeit in the past, he was always on top. But that is another story.

Anyway, I don’t know what’s eating the former Senate President, but making himself appear poor is not the way to go, considering the many allegations currently hurled against him and the way his public persona has evolved through the years.

Of course, having a controversial social media influencer as a wife further exacerbates his situation. Nobody would simply believe he’s earned only that much. Harping on that, which is what he has done so far, will surely not sway the public but simply make their eyebrows raise higher.

In one interview, he mentioned that his properties include those inherited through succession. This means he has hardly made any significant income through his own hard work. But that is understandable. He’s a nepo baby, after all.

And then there’s Sen. Mark, who is the richest solon, with a net worth beyond what anyone can imagine. That he has amassed such wealth is a given, considering he comes from a family whose main goal in life is to “legally” land grab every vacant lot they can find.

This explains why lands in Muntinlupa have become “munti,” and why there are no more pineapples in Las Piñas — there are subdivisions everywhere. And then some.

But that’s the thing about corruption being culturally embedded. Even if the law introduces measures such as the submission of Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALNs) to promote transparency and address wrongdoing, public officials almost always find a way to circumvent them.

Look at Sen. Jinggoy. He has a net worth of P220 million. I wonder how he was able to collect such a huge fortune, considering he has only worked as a legislator and an actor, which isn’t exactly rewarding as most of his movies were flops anyway. In fact, you cannot even say they were “swarmed by flies” because even flies refused to see them.

With the possibility of doing time for the nth time, though, I don’t know if he’d finally hit rock bottom. He’s used to getting there anyway. For some reason, he always finds a way to get back on top. He’s versatile, is all.

In fairness to Sen. Robin and Sen. Lapid, their money came from their being bankable action stars. Compared to their allegedly gay kumpadre, they have not been involved in any controversy relating to the flood control scandal. Their problem, really, is that they’re incompetent.

In sum, I really marvel at how public officials move heaven and earth to convince us they’re not corrupt and that they’re worthy of our votes. Please stop. You’re all heartless fools.

In fact, only Sen. Chiz has “heart.”