by Wendell Vigilia
Malaya
REP. Mikey Arroyo (Lakas-Kampi, Pampanga) yesterday said no one is to blame but himself for his failure to credibly explain the issues surrounding his multimillion wealth, particularly his P63.7-million beach front property in the San Francisco Bay Area in California.
President Arroyo’s eldest son said he looked bad in front of the public because he could not cope with Solita “Winnie” Monsod’s style of questioning when she interviewed him on GMA-7’s “Unang Hirit” Tuesday last week.
“If my answers to those questions seem a little confused, ako lang po ang dapat sisihin. It’s my mistake alone. Sana po I passed on this issue to my accountant, to my lawyer, because they are the ones who actually prepare these documents,” he told dzRH.
Mikey, who stuttered during the GMA-7 interview, said Monsod’s interrogatory style may have caused the people to believe that he is guilty of allegations he has ill-gotten wealth.
Arroyo said he could have easily avoided appearing in the early morning show for the interview but he decided to show up to prove he was not hiding anything.
Mikey has said part of his multi-million wealth came from campaign donations, wedding gifts and real property investments, like the San Francisco Bay property which he said was declared in his statement of assets and liabilities and net worth (SALN) as part of his 40 percent shares in the Beach Way Park LLC.
The donations and gifts, he said, were partly the reason his declared net worth ballooned from P5.7 million in 2001 to P74.4 million in 2004 and then to P99.2 million last year.
Ruy Rondain, the Arroyos’ lawyer, said Mikey’s wife, Angela Montenegro, is also “independently wealthy.”
Rondain said the campaign contributions and wedding gifts that Mikey had received were all part of the requirements he submitted to the Comelec and in his SALN.
“Congressman Mikey will stand by doon sa lahat ng nakadeklara sa SALN and sa Comelec, yung compliance niya,” he said.
VERA Files, which reported on Mikey’s wealth, has said the congressman failed to declare to campaign contributions to the Comelec.
Mikey is the 23rd in the list of richest congressmen with P99 million declared assets while his brother, Rep. Diosdado “Dato” Arroyo (Lakas-Kampi, Camarines Sur), was 28th with P89 million.
Their uncle Rep. Ignacio “Iggy” Arroyo (Lakas-Kampi, Negros Occidental) still had the highest net among them, at P140 million, making him the 13th richest House member.
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Mikey Arroyo says rich wife fattened my net worth
By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
The embattled elder son of President Macapagal-Arroyo produced new documents on Tuesday showing that his personal fortune zoomed in 2002 after he married a scion of an old-rich family.
Pampanga Representative Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo produced a supplemental Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) that his lawyers supposedly filed in his behalf in August 2003, more than a year after his wedding to Angela Montenegro, to dispel allegations he had enriched himself in office.
Arroyo said he made a mistake when he attributed the spike in his wealth to the wedding presents and campaign contributions he received when he ran for Congress in 2004, after it was shown that his campaign fund declarations with the Commission on Elections did not list any significant donations.
“I feel there has been a lot of misunderstanding about the statements I made during my appearance on GMA 7’s Unang Hirit… due to my inability to cope with the rapid-fire questioning of (economist Winnie) Monsod. I respect her, and though her questioning made me look bad or stupid, I guess very few people can actually really stand up to questioning on live TV before millions of people,’’ Arroyo said in an interview over dzRH radio.
His continuing to grant media interviews showed he was sincere about addressing the concerns about his SALN declarations, Arroyo said.
In an interview with the Inquirer, Arroyo said his wife was the richer one but he quickly added in jest, “I’m not a gold digger.’’
He said he submitted a supplemental SALN on August 27, 2003, after his 2002 SALN was deemed inadequate because it did not include the assets of his wife, whom he married in June 2002.
The supplemental SALN showed that his assets grew to P68.73 million in 2002 from P5.7 million in 2001 (his first SALN as vice governor of Pampanga) due mainly to his wife’s holdings. She was listed as a director-shareholder of five companies owned by her family.
Her father, Herman Montenegro, owns Pacific Activated Carbon Corp.
Arroyo said his assets showed a gradual appreciation, growing to P74.4 million in 2004 and P99.2 million in 2008.
His lawyer, Ruy Rondain, said the increase in Arroyo’s wealth was made to appear “scandalous” by Vera Files, the group of investigative reporters which exposed Arroyo’s alleged SALN misdeclarations.
He said Vera Files “cherry-picked” documents to put Arroyo in bad light.
“They knew there was a supplement SALN in 2003; why did they not include it in their research? Is it because it would have ruined their foregone conclusion that my client had built up his wealth scandalously and not gradually?’’
Rondain said it was clear in Arroyo’s SALN that he was a shareholder, not the majority owner, of Beach Way Park LLC which owns the Foster City, California, beach-front home worth $1.3 million.
Arroyo refused to disclose who his partners in Beach Way Park LLC were, citing a confidentiality agreement, but he said he would not mind if the US Securities and Exchange Commission revealed the shareholder list to the media.
Rondain said Arroyo would welcome a case in the Ombudsman.
“But they must have something new aside from what they have based on the articles because that will not be enough; or else they will just be wasting precious government resources,’’ the lawyer said.
You stupid bumbling crook… If you can’t even explain the simplest things about your personal financial situation and get rattled by very simple questions, YOU HAVE NO BUSINESS BEING IN LAWMAKING…
Tonto talaga ang walanghiyang bandido na ito! Sunugin ng buhay ang walanghiyang magnanakaw na yan!
Inutil talaga ang magananakaw na ito!
Ruy Rondain, the Arroyos’ lawyer, said Mikey’s wife, Angela Montenegro, is also “independently wealthy.”
YEAH, YEAH! You stinking crooked lawyer — PROVE IT!
Hehehe! Now, it’s Angela the wifey who’s richer.
Oh Mikey, you moron!
Paano yan Mikey, e di Angela ang makukulong sa US kasi siya ang idinidiin mo ngayon? Idiot!
Every word that comes out of Mikey’s mouth only proves his guilt. Go on talking…
Keep blabbing Mikey…you might find the right alibi before finding yourself in a US prison.
Isa lang masasabi ko, ang BOBO mo Mikey! At ang swapang mo mana ka sa magulang mo!
Sana ay wag natin payagang makatakas ang Mikey Horsey na ito, dapat dito gawing tapang kabayo pagbaba ni Gloria!
Hugas kamay si Mikey pero isa-isabit ang kanyang asawa sa mortgage fraud. Gago talaga.
The issue here is he did not declare in his SALN the San Francisco property which is in the name of his wife as shown by documents obtained by Vera Files and ABS-CBN.
He has not answered that even with the assistance of his lawyer.
Only criminals and people who want to keep their secrets do this kind of reasoning, “Talk to my lawyer!” Meron naman siyang right to remain silent, di na lang sana siya putak ng putak. Unggoy!
Tapos iyong lawyer naman niya isa pang perjurer no doubt!
OK lang isabit iyong asawa kasi kadugo naman niya. May dugong baboy din at aso din yata!
The Psychology of lying. If you know the truth then you will not get confused ever !!. When asked questions pertinent to the lie you’ll have to spend extra effort to 1) to remember the lie and 2) remember other lies and 3) connect all these lies together. This extra effort produce non-verbal signals that indicates the person is lying.
Side glances. Stuttering . Evasive answers . Detached tone of voice.
Is Mikey Arroyo lying in his interview with MS. Monsod. Absolutely. No doubt about it.
Henceforth, I will advise all in our family to never, never, never ever christen their sons as Michael. Sorry to all the good Mikes out there.
Sayang.. such a beautiful name pa. Name ng archangel. Naging name na ng mga archcrooks.
Mike Pidal, Mikey Pidal Jr, Mike the Defender…
o…andyan na ang Ombudsman—defender of the arroyos’ saln (s). wala ng katatakutan si mikey maus…to the rescue ang mga dagalandia!
Ha ha ha, gusto ni Mikey makulong ang tunay na Mrs, baka totoo ang balita na may mistress siya at ibinili din niya ng bahay sa US. Itanong nyo kay Mo.
Dapat talaga bitayin ang pamilya Arroyo, kasama si Mikey the Horsey!!! Sobra ang tanga kaya nabuking sa mga itinatago.
To PCIJ, please don’t forget the buildings of GMA at Van Ness and Bush Streets. That is worth millions of dollars too!
@ Phil: “Henceforth, I will advise all in our family to never, never, never ever christen their sons as Michael. Sorry to all the good Mikes out there.”
It’s ok Phil, as far as I know, I’m one of those remaining good Mikes out there. 🙂
Mikey : “‘I should have let my lawyer do the talking’”
He should have just shut his foul smelling mouth so as not to look so utterly stupid in front of the camera.
Mike, it was VERA Files who did the story on Mikey’s US property in the U.S.
VERA Files is different from PCIJ.
Ellen, you must be referring to Andres’ post #17. Am not the one who mentioned PCIJ. 🙂
I’m sorry Mike. Andres pala.
Hilo na ako. It was midnight.
Thanks for your understanding.
Ellen, wala yun. Nothing to sorry about. 🙂
Sino bang hindi mahilo sa dami ng mga issues na bumubulaga sa atin araw araw. Ang masama pa niyan eh ang mga issues na tumutumbad sa harapan natin eh mga nakakasuka at nakakahinagpis. 🙁
martina,
Tsismak ‘yan, ha?
Nakakatuwa naman! Nakakalokah!
Showbiz pa rin ba ‘yang molang kabayo na ‘yan? Papatusin ba naman ni P-chi ang tikbalang na ‘yan?
Pero, totoo nga kaya ang tsismak ni DJ Moooh tungkol sa kung sino ang nagregalo ng million dollar worth house at ka-engaged daw ni RMQ?
Ano’ng say mo, Tongue?