Ang Galing Pinoy partylist Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo on Thursday expressed hope that he and his wife, Angela, would be “given the same courtesy” that the government accorded Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima when it immediately absolved the Cabinet member of tax evasion.
Arroyo told reporters that the assertions in his and his wife’s counteraffidavits were backed up by Supreme Court jurisprudence and a memorandum from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
They were the same ones, he claimed, used by Purisima when the latter defended himself from allegations that there were discrepancies between his statement of assets and liabilities (SALN) and income tax returns from 2006 to 2009.
“Our affidavit is complete with SC jurisprudence and BIR memorandum and circular to back all of our arguments. I am sure these are the same arguments Sec. Purisima used in his issue. So I hope that since they cleared Sec. Purisima right away, I hope they will be fair in giving us that same courtesy,” Arroyo said.
The panel of prosecutors tasked to look into the BIR’s complaint against the Arroyo couple on Thursday wrapped up its preliminary investigation.
<strong>Confident, optimistic</strong>
It gave the Arroyos and the BIR until July 15 to submit their respective memoranda, after which the complaint will be deemed ready for resolution.
The Arroyos’ lawyer, Ruy Rondain, said the couple would no longer submit a memorandum as the BIR did not file a reply to their counteraffidavit.
Rondain said he was “confident and optimistic” about the content of the prosecutors’ resolution.
Asked if he felt he would be vindicated, Rep. Arroyo said, “If we’re all fair, of course.”
State prosecutors yesterday asked if Rep. Arroyo could still produce the original copy or a certified true copy of his SALN in 2003.
But Rondain said that the photocopy they had submitted, which was the only one available to Rep. Arroyo, should suffice.
“I clarified to them that (my client) was not under the same burden as the BIR… (We are) cooperating so we hope they appreciate the effort and the honesty,” Rondain said.
The lawyer explained that the original SALN of Rep. Arroyo could have already been destroyed by either the Office of the Ombudsman or the provincial government of Pampanga since “under the law, the government has the right to destroy the SALN after five years.”
Rep. Arroyo’s 2003 SALN “establishes the starting point of the arithmetic,” Rondain said.
Last April, the BIR alleged that the Arroyo couple failed to remit P74 million in taxes.