Points of Contradiction

I am commending Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo for his courage and sincerity in personally appearing at a GMA Network program to answer some questions raised regarding his alleged failure to declare properties and the ballooning of his assets over a short period of time. Yet, after watching his supposed act of transparency, the matter gets even more doubtful as the presidential son evaded questions and intended to pass them on to his lawyers. His public appearance, therefore, helped fan the fire of doubt of the people as he appeared to be defensive and too tentative to disclose vital information.

Further investigations by the Vera Files followed while Mikey, along with his lawyer tried for yet another time to address the doubts, this time at radio station DZRH with veteran radio commentator Joe Taruc. Following both the clarification attempts of Cong. Arroyo and the investigations conducted, several contradictions were noted, and hence the following list of observations based on the congressman's statements during the interviews:

1. "She doesn't own anything..." Mikey Arroyo was reffering to his wife, Angela, as having nothing to do with the 20-40 percent Beach Way Park LLC shares his immediate family owns. He also claimed (during the GMA Network interview) that Beach Way Park LLC owns the house at Beach Park Boulevard, Foster City, California. Yet, further investigations verified from the San Mateo County Assesor's Office that the Beach Way house is actually owned by Anegla Montenegro Arroyo, Mikey's beloved wife.
2. "Medyo nagkaroon tayo ng maraming regalo... tapos pag kampanya, siyempre kahit papano maraming tumulong sa atin..." Mikey was referring to the gifts he received during his wedding, the contributions he received during his political campaigns, and the subsequent good investments he had as the source of his assets in question. During his interview with Joe Taruc at DZRH, Mikey explained with his lawyer that the bulk of his additional assets as declared in his later SALNs was that of his wife's as she is independently wealthy (as his lawyer puts it). In an attempt to relate the new claim with his previous explanation at GMA Network, it would appear that his wife gave him enormous gifts for their wedding or his wife (along with other contributors) gave contributions for his campaign.
3. "... tapos pag kampanya, siyempre kahit papano maraming tumulong sa atin..." This was one of the reasons cited by Mikey for his ballooning assets. Investigations however proved that on his statement of contributions and expenses for the past two congressional elections, there were no donations to his campaigns. He reported that his campaigns were funded entirely from his own pocket.
4. "I own about 20-30%... 40... something..." Mikey Arroyo claimed that his immediate family owns that much of the Beach Way Park LLC. Later during the interview at DZRH, his lawyer emphasized that Cong. Arroyo is a minor share holder of the company. This could mean that there has to be only two (2) owners of the company for him to become a minor share holder. This might not be much of a contradiction until he discloses the name(s) of the reported co-owner(s) if there is any.
5. "Those shortcomings were amended the next year..." Mikey admitted to Monsod and Clavio during the GMA Network interview that he made errors in the first time he filed his SALN in 2002. Arroyo filed his regular SALN with P5M in personal assets which he said was erroneous. A supplemental SALN, he said, was filed the next year in the amount of P68.7M making the discrepancy figure more or less P63M. Cong. Arroyo's office a copy to the Vera Files which did not have a "received" stamp or the date of receipt by the Ombudsman. An investigation verified that the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon and the Pampanga Human Resource Management Office did not have a record of both Mikey's 2002 supplemental SALN and his 2003 filing.
6. "They told me not to say it here..." Arroyo insisted that the house in Beach Park Boulevard is owned by Beach Way Park Limited Liability Co. (LLC) which he co-owns along with other share holders who, according to him, refused to be named in public. His failure to give the names of his co-owners raised more doubt and promted another investigation. The San Mateo County Assesor's Office has no record of a Beach Way Park LLC owning the Foster City property. The California Secretary of State, The US Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission also have no record of a business entity named Beach Way Park LLC.