Why is it that every politician or government official accused of an anomaly or a crime claims political harassment? Joseph Estrada, Gloria and Mike Arroyo, Ben Abalos, Ping Lacson, Merceditas Gutierrez, and so many others. All of them have cried either political persecution or political harassment, even before they could explain their side to the issue.
What is it that makes them think they are above the law, and anything that makes them look like they are within the reach of the law constitutes political harassment?
Mikey Arroyo, the arrogant son of the most arrogant politician ever, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, didn’t surprise anybody when he cried political harassment even before he tried to explain why he did not declare his true income from 2003 to 2009 when his mother was wielding power for nine years without a clear people’s mandate.
Even if indeed the charges stemmed from political harassment, which is not farfetched Philippine politics being as it is, it does not diminish the accusations contained in the tax evasion case the Bureau of Internal Revenue filed against him and his wife, Ma. Angela Montenegro.
He has a lot of explaining to do why he declared low net incomes in 2004, 2006 and 2007, and did not file income tax returns in 2005, 2008 and 2009 although his statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs) during the period showed he purchased properties and other assets way beyond his declared income.
Just the fact that he did not file income tax returns in the years 2005, 2008 and 2009 is already sufficient to find him guilty of tax evasion because at that time he was being paid salaries and benefits as a congressman representing the first district of Pampanga. How can he explain his failure to file income tax returns?
How can his wife explain why she did not file any income tax return at all since 2004, the year she got her tax identification number? If she did not have any income at all during those years, as Mikey would have us believe, then where did she get the money to buy the properties in her name?
The BIR has established that Mikey did not pay taxes for incomes totaling P73.85 million during the period based on the difference of his net worth from 2003 to 2009 declared in his SALN, which is required of all government officials. The years 2003 to 2009 represented the year he was a congressman.
Using the net worth method of computing for undeclared incomes was the same way the Department of the Treasury convicted and sent to jail the elusive Mafia boss Al Capone
In 2001 when Mikey became vice governor of Pampanga and, therefore, required to file a SALN, he declared a net worth of only P5 million, which he amended the following year to P5.72 million. At the end of his second term as congressman in 2009, he declared a net worth of $101.35 million, an increase of P95.63 million, and yet the only income he declared in the three years he filed an income tax return were the salaries he got as vice governor and later as congressman, which was just P35,000 a month.
When confronted in 2009 by TV host and columnist Solita Monsod on how his net woth increased from P5.72 million to P101.35 million, Mikey tried to dodge the question but with Monsod persistently asking the question, Mikey finally said: “Let’s put it this way. Alam nyo kasi, syempre unang-una, kinasal tayo. Medyo nagkaroon tayo ng maraming regalo. Tapos pag kampanya, eh syempre, kahit paano, maraming tumutulong sa atin (You know, first of all, I got married. I received lots of gifts. Then in the election campaign, somehow, many people helped me).”
But Mikey apparently dug a deeper hole with the answers because as a government official and the son of the president, any gift, especially if they were well, well beyond the price range of a microwave oven or china set, could be perceived as a bribe. Even if they were cash gifts for his wedding, Mikey still was required by law to declare them and pay gift taxes.
And if the campaign contributions were much, much larger than traditional contribution, again this can be seen as a bribe. Likewise, he still had to declare them and pay a gift tax or something, especially if they were in the range of hundreds of thousands or millions of pesos. Besides, was he entitled to spend campaign contributions for personal expenses? In the United States, that would be a crime.
When asked where he got the money to purchase a property in Foster City, California for $1.32 million (P63.7 million) that he later transferred the title to his wife Angela in 2006, Mikey said it was declared in his SALN and it was self-explanatory.
“If they still have doubts, they can sue me. I don’t want to waste my time dealing with issues like this. There are far more important things to do, such as helping the government find ways to lessen the impact of the global financial crisis,” Mikey said.
He dared officials to sue him — just like how his mother and the other Arroyos react when confronted with a controversy — because he was confident then that no court would dare convict him. Now that the BIR has accepted his challenge, he cries political harassment.
The Arroyos must be shaking in their boots. First, the Ombudsman and now an Arroyo. This must indeed be some political harassment. At least President Noynoy Aquino was honest enough to say he was “at war” with the Ombudsman. Go ahead, tell them you are also at war with the Arroyos, Mister President. We won’t take it against you. I’m sure the people want you to declare war against the Arroyos, too. After all, the Ombudsman has not even done a fraction of the damage the Arroyos have done to our country.
Go ahead and file plunder cases against Gloria, Mike, Dato, Iggy and Mikey, too. Let them cry political harassment. The people wouldn’t mind. Maybe they’ll even think you’re finally doing your job and give you back a rating higher than Vice President Jojo Binay. Mikey may be proven right that you are going after him to get good ratings in surveys. But who cares?