Mikey Arroyo, wife on Immigration watchlist

Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo and his wife Ma. Angela

Party-list House member Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo (Ang Galing Pinoy) and his wife Ma. Angela may have to call off any planned foreign trips in the next two months.

On orders of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, the Bureau of Immigration on Wednesday placed Arroyo and his wife on the agency’s watchlist after the couple were charged with tax fraud.

The watchlist order (WLO), issued at around 5 p.m. Wednesday, will be valid for 60 days, unless terminated or extended by De Lima.

De Lima said she issued the order to prevent the Arroyos from evading possible court proceedings in connection with the tax evasion case filed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

“Since this involved high-profile personalities with resources to possibly try to evade the arm of the law, it’s one of the legal safeguards available to the executive department, particularly the prosecution arm,” she told reporters.

BIR tax investigators claimed that the Arroyo couple owed P73.9 million in income taxes.

Contacted for comment, Arroyo said he and his wife had no plans of running away from the tax evasion charges.

“The statement of De Lima that we are a flight risk is laughable. I am a member of Congress and I have a duty to my country and constituents. I could not and would not abandon my oath to serve them. We have no intention to leave the country because we have not done anything wrong,” he said in a text message.

Arroyo said De Lima and Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes had supposedly inhibited themselves from the investigation but they were still making statements against him and other Arroyo family members.

“How could we expect fair play? It is obvious that an independent body is doing the bidding of the President. Where is their delicadeza?” he asked.

In a resolution, a panel of Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors said that Arroyo could be held liable for three counts of violations of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) while his wife was charged for seven counts for their failure to file income tax returns (ITR).

Arroyo was also charged for three counts of “failure to supply correct and accurate information” in his ITRs from 2004 to 2006.

The BIR’s Run After the Tax Evaders program said the lawmaker did not submit his income tax returns for 2005, 2008 and 2009.

De Lima disputed Arroyo’s claim that the filing of the tax suit against him and his wife were part of the Aquino administration’s political persecution of their family.

“We in the DOJ don’t consider… any political and other considerations other than legal. The case went through the process and they have been cooperative. In fact, they appeared in the preliminary investigation,” she said.

“They were given the opportunity to lodge their defense. They did interpose various defenses which were adequately passed upon, considered and resolved by the panel. You can see that in the resolution,” she said.

She said she had already directed Prosecutor General Claro Arellano to file the case against the Arroyos with the Court of  Tax Appeals.

“I instructed the prosecutors to prepare the information without prejudice to the (available) remedies (for the Arroyos),” she added.

When a case is filed before the court, prosecutors often apply for a hold-departure order against the respondents to prevent the latter from leaving the country.

Any person who is the subject of a WLO may not leave the country without clearance from the requesting authority, in this case the DOJ. With Gil Cabacungan and Jerome Aning

Originally posted at 03:27 pm | Wednesday, October 05, 2011