Being Mikey Arroyo
There are many reasons why Pampanga Representative and one-time movie actor Juan Miguel Arroyo has suddenly become the poster boy for the iniquities of the Arroyo administration. That he has failed to disclose his United States property in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth along with campaign contributions is not a particularly stunning revelation, at least not in a country where billion-peso corruption allegations are daily fare. It is not even the fact that a congressman who happens to be the President’s son has been caught with millions more than he makes through his monthly government paycheck. It may be easiest to say the current national disgust for him—as compared with the usual indifferent acceptance of his family’s various shenanigans—is largely due to his self-satisfied grin as he gleefully perjured himself on national television.
Pampanga Representative Mikey Arroyo, who uses the presidential “we” whenever he refers to himself, declared P5.7 million as his official assets in 2001. It jumped to P76.9 million with his 2005 declaration. A congressman receives a basic salary of P35,000 a month or P420,000 a year, according to the Commission on Audit. Mikey claims the jump came from wedding gifts and campaign contributions, contributions he never declared in his SALNs. Mikey says the increase is not as enormous as it appears, since the original P5.7 million was inaccurate. As he was a new congressman, he was still not used to declaring his assets, and made mistakes in the filing—a gross misrepresentation, since the round-cheeked Mr. Arroyo had been compelled to declare his SALNs since 1993 when he worked as his mother’s executive assistant. Newsbreak reported his 1993 assets at P50,000, and the skyrocketing increase by 11,300 percent eight years later when he was elected provincial vice governor in 2001. Under Republic Act 6758, a vice governor receives a monthly compensation equivalent to salary grade 28, with a pay ranging from P15,180 to P16,275.
According to a Vera Files report, in the three years he served as vice governor, Mikey Arroyo should only have earned a gross annual income of P634,725. “Despite having declared no real property or business interests while still vice governor, even after his marriage to Angela, save for P2.1 million of unspecified shares of stock in 2001 and 2002 and about P3 million in bank deposits, he managed to acquire by 2004 a house in Lubao, Pampanga, worth P4 million and a house in La Vista in Quezon City for P8 million. He did not report having borrowed money or incurred other liabilities before he was elected congressman.”
On the sudden increase in his assets, Mikey said, “(It’s not) ill-gotten, hindi naman kalakihan ’yan (It’s not too big).” It is curious what the Arroyo son deems “big.”
In the controversial GMA7 interview, University of the Philippines Economics professor Solita Monsod interrogated the smiling congressman. He claimed his SALNs were self-explanatory—except by himself, apparently—and that he, any and all individuals who refused to accept his contradicting statements were in fact politically-motivated. It is the line the administration has long been taking, and one that is the period at the end of every failed justification for overspending, political crimes, corruption, and possible chest implants. The good congressman challenged Monsod to sue him in court if she was unsatisfied with his explanations. What was stunning about the Mikey interview was the fact that he had allowed himself to be interviewed, a departure from his mother’s patent refusal to answer media questions and to refuse all media interviews.
Mikey claims he appeared at the “Unang Hirit” interview because he had nothing to hide. As he obviously has very much to hide—although he seems stunningly inept at keeping them hidden—his live interview is a manifestation of the length and breadth of the administration’s impunity. A congressman can announce he is a moron on national television, confirm insinuations of corruption, act like a spoiled 12-year-old, and still get away with it because everyone knows Mommy is behind him.
“I have all the good intentions and it must have shown in my appearance, as many friends texted me or called me after the program saying it is the right and brave thing to do,” he said after he was asked about his television performance. Mikey needs new friends, that much is clear. He blames his “inability” to cope with the interview to Monsod’s questioning. “I respect her, and though her questioning had made me look bad or stupid, I guess very few people can actually really stand to questioning on live TV before millions of people especially early in the morning,” he said. He claims the interview may have given the “wrong perception” of him. Mikey was weighed and found wanting, trust him to say it was the fault of the weighing scale.
Weeks after the Vera Files exploded the issue of the Arroyos’ American holdings, and after media organizations followed their lead, very little has come of the contradicting explanations the brothers have offered. Mikey himself has done little but present platitudes. He challenges the public to sue him. He is glad for the case filed with the Ombudsman—and well he should be, as she is the same woman whose name was included in the original list of government officials that followed Her Excellency Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to gorge themselves on New York fine dining. Mikey claims the property in the United States is not in his family’s name—Vera Files says it is in his wife’s. He says he grew rich on wedding presents and campaign contributions, income that he did not declare.
In any other democracy, this would end in resignation and recrimination. In this country, it ends with a sound byte from a smiling congressman.
Oct 14, 2009
That goes to show what kind of people we choose to lead us. A government official, just like any of us, can never be perfect but at the very least he can be honest and open.
Nov 28, 2009
patricia,
being mikey arroyo, SUCKS! Its like; “mom,why do many people asking me how we bought a house? yet its yours”