Mikey: Wealth came from gifts

MANILA, Philippines - Presidential son Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo said generous wedding gifts and campaign donations account for a large portion of his wealth, enabling him to acquire a $1.32-million (about P63.7-million) waterfront house in California.

He made this candid revelation in an interview over “Unang Hirit” on GMA-7 yesterday with Winnie Monsod and Arnold Clavio.

But he did not say what those “wedding gifts” or campaign contributions were – or who gave them – that increased his personal net worth of P5 million in 2002 to P99 million in 2008.

Arroyo has been serving as Pampanga’s second district representative since 2004.

“When I got married I received many gifts. Then during the campaign I got a lot of help. It’s not that much, but it helped and we had some good investments,” he explained in Filipino.

The Pampanga congressman, during the interview, even lamented that Monsod didn’t look convinced with his explanation. He also advised his critics to file a case against him in court.

“I’m answering it, but you refuse to believe my answer so I’m saying ask my lawyer. It’s all legal, and it’s not that big. I want a case filed in court to clear things up,” he said.

“So why doesn’t anyone sue me in court?” he asked. “For people who refuse to listen it’s unexplainable. As far as I’m concerned, it’s transparent. I have nothing to hide,” he stressed.

“This is a welcome development for me. Now, the rules of evidence will have to govern the issue. No one can anymore grandstand at my expense and try to mislead the public,” he said, in reaction to lawyer Harry Roque’s threat to bring him to the Office of the Ombudsman.

The presidential son also refused to divulge the identities of his fellow shareholders in Beach Way LLC, saying critics can check with the Securities and Exchange Commission records.

“They’re private citizens. I’m not at liberty to disclose their names. It’s a corporation, so you can go and look for it there (SEC). I can’t say it here (on national television),” he said.

Pressed by Monsod if he only wanted to make it difficult for journalists to uncover the extent of his wealth, he retorted: “If you’re in doubt, sue me in court. I only wanted to explain, I didn’t hide it. It’s perfectly legal, if you have questions, ask my lawyer.”

“First of all, insofar as I’m concerned and my lawyer is concerned and I believe many public officials do this also, we can put a property under a company’s name as long as we declare the company,” he explained.

“It’s a legal way of teaching us how to deal with our SALN (statement of assets and liabilities and net worth),” he said. 

And like his co-shareholders, he said he lives in the house whenever he is in the US, as nobody lives there. “It’s company-owned. When I go on vacation, I stay there just like other shareholders,” he said.

Arroyo declined to elaborate how he had accumulated wealth from P5 million in 2002 to P76.9 million in 2005, or in a span of just three years. The figure reached P99 million in 2008.

“In 2002, I was a vice governor. I only became congressman in 2004, under the law assuming you make mistakes in your SALN, you can always amend it the next year as long as you pay the proper taxes,” he explained, without giving details.

“I didn’t know how to declare then but those shortcomings are amended the next year,” he said.