Arroyo son, wife’s arraignment deferred anew

MANILA, Philippines — The arraignment of Ang Galing Pinoy partylist Representative Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo and his wife Angela was deferred yet again by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 100 on Wednesday.

The couple’s arraignment is reset to April 19 by Judge Marie Christine Jacob due to a petition for review still pending at the Department of Justice.

The hearing would have been set to May 9 but defense counsel Ruy Rondain requested for a later date, saying that the couple had planned a vacation with their children sometime in mid-April to June.

The judge has also directed the defense to file a motion for early resolution to the DOJ in order to expedite their pending petition.

But even before the hearing started at past 8:30 a.m., Rondain got into a heated argument with Senior State Prosecutor Lagrimas Agaran over his failure to follow-up on their petition at the DOJ.

The prosecutor presented a certification from the DOJ dated March 6 which proved that the petition has yet to be decided on.

She told the presiding judge that only petitioners or the Bureau of Internal Revenue could follow up on the petition.

“They might think I’m bullying them for an early resolution if I do the follow-up,” Agaran told Rondain who replied “I will (follow-up on the matter) in my own time. I don’t understand why you are so agitated.”

Rondain later told reporters that the arraignment had to be deferred as a courtesy between the judiciary and the executive branches. He added that they were “hopeful matatagalan ang decision (ng DOJ) if they believe in our petition.”

The Arroyos were not worried by length of time their tax evasion cases was taking up, Rondain added, saying that “they are resigned (to the fact) that it takes years (to resolve such cases).”

The BIR said that the eldest son of former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo failed to file income tax returns for the years 2005, 2008, and 2009 while his wife did not file her ITRs from 2003 to 2009. Radyo Inquirer 990AM