MANILA, Philippines—(UPDATE) Pampanga Representative Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo on Monday refuted reports of irregularities in his statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN), calling them "malicious" and a waste of his time.
Arroyo asserted that he and his family could afford to buy properties in the United States, such as the one the Vera Files reported on.
"If you examine clearly my SAL, if you read it well, you can see we can well afford to buy properties," he told INQUIRER.net in a phone interview.
"I have always been transparent with my SALN ever since I entered public office. I have declared everything I own there. It is self explanatory," he said in a statement.
Coming to his defense, Speaker Prospero Nograles echoed Arroyo's statement and criticized the report as "nitpicking" against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's eldest son.
"A perusal of the statement of assets and liabilities of Representative Mikey Arroyo sufficiently shows that he and his family can afford the value of the properties subject to this issue," Nograles said in a text message.
"Personally, I find this issue nitpicking in the sense that the congressman can well afford the assets attributed to him," Nograles said, adding that the SALN can be "legally amended without liability if and when any oversight that is not substantial is discovered or corrected."
"This matter is not really substantial except that Mikey is the President's eldest son. Otherwise, if he were not what he is, this issue won't even hit the news," the Speaker said.
INQUIRER.net and other media organizations carried the Vera Files report exposing that Arroyo failed to declare in his 2007 and 2008 SALN a $1.32-million or P63.7-million beach-front property in the San Francisco Bay Area in California which he bought and then transferred to his wife Angela in 2005.
The house is located at 1655 Beach Park Boulevard in Foster City in San Mateo County.
Vera Files added that while the congressman from Pampanga declared a residential house in the United States in his SALN for 2005 and 2006, he did not mention it in his SALN for the two succeeding years.
Vera Files also reported that the young Arroyo is indeed a shareholder in Beach Way Park LLC which is located on Beach Park Blvd California, the same street where the Foster City property is located.
“With regards to the San Francisco Bay house, it is registered under beach Way Park LLC in which I am a shareholder and which I declared in my SALN. And this fact was even attested to by the writer or the writers of the story," Arroyo said.
The congressman said the report was misleading either due to the writers' malicious intent or lack of knowledge on the matter.
“Unfortunately, either the writer or writers deliberately imposed a malicious twist on the story or they lack knowledge on the legal aspects regarding corporations," he said.
Arroyo said those who have questions on his SALN can talk to his lawyer or those who do not believe him can sue him.
“As much as possible, I don't want to waste my time dealing with issues like this,” said Arroyo. “There are far more important things to do especially in helping the government find ways to lessen the effects if not bail us out of the impact of the global financial crisis.”
Arroyo also denied that he snubbed the writers' request for an interview to get his reaction, stressing that the news agency did not attempt to reach him.
Arroyo placed his net worth at P99.2 million in his SALN for 2008, slightly up from P96.7 million declared in 2007, according to the report. He reported P27 million in real property, P129 million in personal assets, and P56 million in liabilities.
The three Arroyos in Congress—Mikey, his brother Diosdado “Dato” Arroyo of Camarines Sur, and his uncle Ignacio “Iggy” Arroyo of Negros Oriental—are among the 30 richest House members, according to their 2008 SALN.
