Outraged Fil-Ams seek probe of Mikey's ‘hidden’ US property

FOSTER CITY, California - Filipino groups in the United States have expressed outrage over presidential son and Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey" Arroyo’s alleged questionable acquisition of a $1.3-million (P63.7-million) property in California. The groups, which staged a protest-rally in front of the property in San Francisco Bay Area on Friday, are urging the Philippine and US governments to investigate whether the congressman acquired the property through improper means. “We want to express our concern over Mikey Arroyo’s reported cover-up of his property here. Filipinos in the US especially in Bay Area are concerned about how he failed to report this house. We should be told the truth," said Raquel Redondiez, director of women’s group Gabriela-USA. According to a report by Vera Files, Arroyo failed to declare the property in his 2007 and 2008 Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN). The property, which is now up for sale, was bought by the congressman and transferred to his second cousin and wife, Angela Arroyo Montenegro in 2006, the report said. Philippine law on the filing of SALN requires government officials to declare assets owned by their spouses. Arroyo has denied owning any property in the US. He says Beach Way Park LLC, in which he is a shareholder, owns the estate located at 1655 Beach Park Boulevard in Foster City, San Mateo County. But Vera Files claims that as of August 31, 2009, the property remains under the name of the congressman’s wife. Vera Files also reported that a search of business entities on the databases of the San Mateo County, State of California, and the US Securities and Exchange Commission yielded no “Beach Way Park." “A lot of people in the US are struggling here because of the economic crisis, and here you have a Philippine politician buying expensive property. It’s no longer milk and honey here in the US, but perhaps to the Arroyos, it still is," said Terrence Valen, executive director of the Filipino Community Center (FCC), a non-government organization based in San Francisco, California. Vallen said the money used to acquire the property “should be returned to public coffers" if it will be proven that Arroyo had bought the estate through improper means. “It’s a stark contrast looking at this five-bedroom house from the daily reality of Filipinos living back home. The time that the Philippine economy has plummeted, his (Arroyo’s) personal income has skyrocketed," Redondiez said. Arroyo’s net worth jumped to P99 million in 2008 from P5 million in 2002, records of the congressman’s SALN show. In a recent interview with broadcaster and economist Solita Collas Monsod over GMA-7, Arroyo attributed the increase of his wealth to the gifts he received when he got married and the funds donated to him when he ran for public office. “Let’s put it this way. Alam n’yo kasi, s’yempre, unang-una, kinasal tayo. Medyo nagkaroon tayo ng maraming regalo. Tapos, sa kampanya, eh s’yempre, kahit paano, maraming tumutulong sa atin (You know, first of all, we got married. I received lots of gifts. Then during the election campaign, somehow, many people helped me)," Arroyo told Monsod. Arroyo said this was how his net worth increased to P99 million last year from P76.9 million in 2004 during his first term as Pampanga representative. He claimed that his P5-million net worth in 2002 was inaccurate thus the figure was corrected the following year. Bayan-USA deputy secretary-general Jack De Jesus said his group joined Gabriela and FCC in going to Foster City to “to express our outrage at Congressman Arroyo’s spending habits, especially his spending for this $1.3 million house." The groups carried placards denouncing Arroyo’s alleged extravagance amid widespread hunger and poverty experienced by majority of Filipinos. The protesters also impersonated the congressman and his mother to dramatize their outrage over alleged corrupt practices under the Arroyo administration. - GMANews.TV