Arroyo Sons Face Probe Over Unexplained Wealth

Two lawmaker-sons of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo found themselves in hot water and could soon face an acrimonious court battle that could drag down their parents themselves as a prominent activist-lawyer threatened to file at least two cases against them for perjury and unexplained wealth.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (center) with her son Mikey (right) during their recent visit to their hometown in Pampanga province.

Lawyer Harry Roque Jr. said he plans to file the cases against Congressmen Juan Miguel “Mikey” and Diosdado Ignacio “Dato” Macapagal Arroyo over more than $1.9 million worth of properties they acquired in the United States after being elected into office.

“Undoubtedly, they have the money to buy the properties. The question is, where did the money come from? If the source of the money is not legal, then it’s ill-gotten,” Roque said in a radio interview.
He said the Arroyo brothers must explain how they acquired the properties without paying proper taxes and whether they inherited the properties from their parents.

Roque said the two brothers also face a possible perjury case since they did not include the properties in their Statements of Assets and Liabilities and Net worth (SALN).

“How much is a congressman’s salary? I thought that before they became congressmen, they had no major sources of income,” he said.

Roque said once he filed the cases in court, the Arroyo brothers must produce proof to show that they paid the proper taxes if the properties came from their parents. “Either way, they have no way out,” he said.

A group of journalists writing under the name Vera Files earlier disclosed the existence of an “undeclared” $1.3 million beachfront property of Mikey Arroyo in the San Francisco Bay Area in California, which he bought and transferred to his wife Angela in 2006. The house, located at 1655 Beach Park Blvd in Foster City in San Mateo County, is now up for sale, but does not appear in Mikey’s 2007 and 2008 SALN.

On the other hand,Vera Files said Dato Arroyo and his wife Victoria Celina Manotok purchased a $556,250 property in San Francisco barely a year after he won his congressional seat in 2007. Dato declared ownership of the property in his 2008 SALN.

The two brothers denied reports that irregularities accompanied the purchase of their luxury homes in the United States.

They claimed that they had legally declared all of their properties.

“I have always been transparent … ever since I entered public office. I have declared everything I own there. It is self-explanatory,” Mikey said.

He said the San Francisco Bay house is registered under Beach Way Park LLC where he is a shareholder. “This was even attested to by the writer or the writers of the story,” he said.

“Unfortunately, either the writer or writers deliberately imposed a malicious twist on the story or they lack knowledge on the legal aspects regarding corporations,” Mikey said.

Mikey said anyone who wants to question his assets’ statement can talk to his lawyer who prepared the document. “If they still have doubts, they can sue me,” he added.

President Arroyo’s eldest son said he would refrain from talking further about the matter since there are “far more important things that I should attend to.”

He said that as chairman of the House energy committee, he is currently preoccupied with finding ways to cut power rates and fuel prices.

For his part, Dato Arroyo said there is no irregularity since “it’s all in the SALN and nothing is hidden.”