MANILA - Former Senate President Manny Villar remains the richest man in the Philippines, but his fortune is still eclipsed collectively by the children of the mall magnate that used to hold the title, according to Forbes.com.

The children of late tycoon Henry Sy are together worth $17.2 billion, according to Forbes' "Philippines' 50 Richest."

The retail tycoon passed away in January 19 this year at the age of 94, leaving his fortune to his six children Teresita, Elizabeth, Henry Jr., Hans, Herbert and Harley.

Villar, however, tops the list in terms of individual wealth, with an estimated worth of $6.6 billion. This was over a billion dollars higher than an earlier estimate released by Forbes in March this year, which put the former lawmaker's fortune at $5.5 billion.

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Retail, telecoms and air transport tycoon John Gokongwei came in next with an estimated wealth of $5.3 billion, followed by ports magnate Enrique Razon at $5.1 billion and Jaime Zobel de Ayala of the Ayala group at $3.7 billion.

Davao-based tycoon Dennis Uy meanwhile debuted on Forbes list, ranking 22nd with an estimated fortune of $660 million.

Uy is the founder of Udenna, which has interests in oil, shipping, logistics, real estate, education, gaming.

His DITO Telecommunity Corp, which is a consortium with China Telecom, is building the country's third major telecommunications company.

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Forbes noted that besides the Sy patriarch, 4 other long-time members of the country's richest list passed away including George Ty of Metrobank and GT Capital; Beatrice Campos of Unilab; Gilberto Duavit of GMA Network; and Jon Aboitiz of the Aboitiz group.