Mikey: Sale of 'evidence' in tax case perfectly normal

(Updated 4:49 p.m.) Ang Galing Pinoy party-list Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey" Arroyo said the sale of a controversial house in upscale Foster City, California for $1.125 million (about P48.49 million) — an "evidence" in a tax evasion case against him — was "perfectly normal." In a statement issued on Monday, Mikey said "the sale was made in an ordinary course of business as our company is engaged in the buying and selling of real estate properties, it is but perfectly normal that we sell properties, otherwise we go out of business." Earlier, VERA Files reported that the five-bedroom beachfront house at 1655 Beach Park Blvd. was sold by the Beachway Limited Liability Company (LLC), a company Mikey has admitted being a part owner of. According to VERA Files, published by veteran Filipino journalists, the transaction was reported to the San Mateo County Assessor-Recorder’s Office in California on March 16. "The Vera Files story only confirms there is ongoing vilification campaign against me and my family. This is yet another attempt to make an issue when there is absolutely none," said Mikey, the eldest son of former President and incumbent Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. "I have already issued a statement way back 2009 regarding that property is Foster City that it is not personally owned by me but by a company which I have a minority stake," Mikey said. "The property should not in any way be related to the trumped-up tax evasion case filed against me," he added. But Vera Files stood by its story. "The story... is a factual report of a real estate transaction involving a firm partly owned by someone being accused of tax evasion," it said. "The reaction of Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo, that 'the sale was made in an ordinary course of business,' merely confirms that the transaction took place," it added. Tax evasion raps The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) on April 7 this year filed with the Department of Justice (DOJ) a tax evasion complaint against Mikey and his wife Angela. The BIR is requiring the couple to pay P73.85 million in aggregate tax liabilities accumulated from 2004 to 2009. Below is the BIR's computation of the couple's tax liabilities arising from their alleged non-filing of income tax returns and underdeclaration of income. The amount stems from their "repeated willful [failure] to file their income tax returns and substantial underdeclaration of income of the periods in question," BIR commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares said at a news briefing at the DOJ office in Manila on April 7. Section 254 of the Tax Code requires the filing of income tax returns while Secton 255 of the same code requires the payment of taxes. Campaign to malign Mikey? Mikey said the VERA Files story about the sale of the house in Foster City, California was part of a smear campaign him and his family. "It is very clear to me now that this latest article is nothing but part of a bigger campaign to malign me and my family," he said. He alleged that the smear campaign was being conducted "to hide this administration’s lack of specific program to address the ever-worsening poverty and hunger, unemployment, rising prices of oil and basic commodities and the exodus of our OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) affected by conflicts in the Middle East." The VERA Files story said Arroyo claimed owning only around 40 percent of the Beachway Limited Liability Company (LLC), the company that sold the controversial property. However, according to VERA Files sources in California, visitors to the Foster City property saw the following in the property before it was sold:

a picture of Mikey Arroyo and his wife Angela, and

a painting of his mother Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo taking her oath of office as President on January 20, 2001. VERA Files also said Mikey's former chief of staff Antonio Mariano Almeda was listed as Beachway LLC manager. Sold to Gerry's Grill owners The controversial property in Foster City, California was transferred in March to Mary Grace Apolinario and Jerome Ngo, owners of "Gerry's Grill," a popular restaurant chain in the Philippines. According to VERA Files, sources said Apolinario and Ngo, who appear in the California county's database as "grantees" or buyers, are good friends of Mikey. A document listed as No. 2011-031097 in San Mateo County (California) Recorder’s Office shows that a transfer tax of $1,237.50 was paid. – with Amita Legaspi, Sophie Dedace/ VVP/RSJ, GMA News