Arraignment of Mikey Arroyo, wife reset for March 7

Partylist Congressman Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo and his wife Angela

The arraignment of House party-list member Juan Miguel Arroyo (Ang Galing Pinoy) and his wife Angela for tax evasion charges was deferred for second time Wednesday before a Quezon City court, because of a pending appeal before the Department of Justice to dismiss the charges.

Judge Marie Christine Jacob granted Arroyo’s new motion to postpone and schedule the arraignment for March 7.

The prosecution did not object to the motion to suspend Wednesday’s proceedings

The first arraignment was set last December but was deferred, also on the request of the Arroyo couple.

Arroyo who attended Wednesday’s proceedings refused to be interviewed and declined to answer questions from reporters.

He replied “no comment” to questions about what he thought about the ongoing impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona.

According to the couple’s lawyer, Ruy Rondain, the DOJ has yet to resolve the couple’s petition appealing the denial of their motion for reconsideration on their indictment.

Rondain said the petition for review was filed on Dec. 14, 2011.

Arroyo allegedly failed to file income tax returns for the years 2007 to 2009. His wife has been charged with seven counts for allegedly failing to file ITRs for 2003 to 2009.

Arroyo and his wife have separately posted bail for P60,000 and P140,000, respectively, for their temporary liberty. Nancy Carvajal