MANILA – Amid reports that she was “disturbed†by the case, a complaint of alleged unexplained wealth was filed against one of the two law-maker sons of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo before the office of the Ombudsman.
Named in the criminal complaint of graft was Congressman Juan Miguel “Mikey†Arroyo of Pampanga province in Central Luzon, the eldest of three children of the President.
The complaint was filed by Courage, composed of militant government workers who are mostly public school teachers.
In a six-page charge sheet signed by Ferdinand Gaite, the Courage president, Mikey was accused of his alleged failure to declare in his 2007 Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (Saln), his purchase of a $1.3 million beachfront three-storey house in Foster City, California.
Gaite also asked the Ombudsman to investigate how Mikey’s net worth increased from the equivalent of $$1.2 million in 2005 to close to $2 million in 2008, which allegedly violated the anti-graft law as well as the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.
Under the law, Mikey is mandated to lead a modest lifestyle appropriate to his position and income and is not supposed to indulge in “ostentatious or extravagant display of wealth in any form,†Gaite stressed.
In addition, he said Mikey also allegedly violated a law which compels him to submit to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) a list of campaign contributors who supported him when he entered politics in 1993.
Mikey’s younger brother, Congressman Diosdado “Dato†Arroyo of Camarines Sur province in the Bicol Region also admitted a unit in a posh condominium in downtown San Francisco for $750,000.
But Dato said he included the property in his 2008 Saln as he revealed that he and his wife purchase the unit from a loan he had secured from his father-in-law.
The filing of the complaint against Mikey came amid reports that President Arroyo was “disturbed†by the series of lawsuits filed against immediate members of her family although Malacanang said it was taking a hands-off policy and would just allow the law to take its course.
Mikey recently came into the limelight not only for his alleged failure to declare his California property but also to explain satisfactorily how his net worth grew by more than 1,600 percent in the seven years that he was an elected public official.
In an investigative report by the “Newsbreak†team, Mikey reported in the Saln he had submitted in 1993 that he had no properties and no liabilities but only a net worth of $1,000 which was in cash.
The report said Mikey submitted the Saln to the Senate secretariat, as required by law, when he started working for his mother as her chief executive assistant when she was a senator.
From Mikey’s $1,000 net worth in 1993, Newsbreak reported that this grew to $100,000 in 2001 when he was elected as vice-governor of Pampanga, the home province of his mother.
From vice governor, Mikey was elected as congressman in 2004 and was returned to the same position in the 2007 polls.
At that time, Newsbreak said that, based on the Salns he had submitted Mikey’s net worth soared to $1.2 million in 2007 and close to $2 million in 2008.
When contacted, Mikey welcomed the filing by Courage of the unexplained wealth filed against him as he stressed:
“I even thank Courage for bringing this issue, which needs to be answered in the proper forum. Instead of grandstanding at my expense, they went to the proper forum (Ombudsman). That’s very commendable.â€
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