Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) - Peasant Movement of the Philippines

 
Real estate property in Austin St, San Francisco, USA Presidential couple failed to declare US property in their SAL from 1999 to 2002, militants bare 

Two militant groups on Thursday bared that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and First Gentleman Mike Arroyo did not include in their joint Statement of Assets and Liabilities  (SAL) from 1999 to 2001, amulti-million dollar property in the United States. Based on documents obtained by the militant fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) and the peasant activist group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), President Arroyo and Atty. Arroyo acquired a real estate property located at 1510 Austin St, San Francisco, CA on September 1, 1999 from Jerry Benjamin and Karen M. The property was paid in full for $ US 1,428,000 and was later sold to Harold Goldman and Zelda E. for $ US 1, 675,000 on November 13,2002. 

The groups said the Arroyo couple earned $ US 247,000 from the sale of the real property in San Francisco in 2002. Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap, said President Arroyo who was then Vice-President to deposed President Joseph Estrada should have declared the property in their joint SAL in 1999 up to the 2001 and should have declared the earnings from the sale of the same property in their joint SAL in 2002. 
" It was not declared for reasons which were confined to the inner and immediate circle of the Macapagal-Arroyo club", he said in a statement. 

According to Hicap, from 1999 to 2002 the SAL of the First Couple merely declared their properties in Baguio City (house and lot), Antipolo City (residential lot), Tayabas Commercial Lot, Bulacan Agricultural Lot and Batangas Agricultural Lot, cash on hand and cash on banks, race horses, jewelries, appliances and furnitures, law books, stocks, cars and office equipment.

 " The presidential couple owes the Filipino people a honest-to-goodness explanation. In the name of national interest and public trust, we ask the Arroyo couple to speak out and tell the public the truth and nothing but the truth", Hicap added. 

KMP deputy secretary general for internal affairs Willy Marbella said thePresident and FG Arroyo are grossly liable for omitting the purchased property in San Francisco in their joint SAL, as well as equally liable for not declaring their joint income arising from the sale of said property in November 2002.  

" Available records said the First Couple earned a windfall of 247,000 US dollars from the sale of the property in Austin St. But this was notdisclosed to the public and to the domestic internal revenue agency", Marbella noted. 

Marbella said the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) should look into the possible tax liabilities of the Arroyo couple emanating from the proceeds of  sales of their US properties acquired and sold to different buyers between 1992 and 2002. 

Marbella challenged BIR officials to look into the possible tax liabilities of the Arroyo couple in connection with their campaign to get tax evaders." If the BIR is really sincere to go after tax evaders, they should come to terms and put the Arroyos under investigation for possible tax evasion case against the presidential couple", he said. 

Pamalakaya and KMP said the BIR should strike a through assessment on the financial records of the First Couple outside their reported SAL because the properties acquired and later sold for profits were not taxed by the Philippine government. 

Documents obtained by KMP and Pamalakaya also revealed that the First Couple started acquiring properties in the United States in 1992. The first property acquired by the Arroyos was a housing unit on 727 Gellert Blvd. Daly City, CA, which was acquired on July 7, 1992 and transferred to LTA also on June 18, 1998. The property was sold to a certain Roberto S.Aleonar on December 15, 1998 for $ US 242,000 as against its transfer value of $ US 302,500. 

The second property acquired by the Arroyos was another housing unit in 2425 Tipperary Ave. in South San Francisco, California on July 13, 1992.The property was transferred to LTA Realty Corporation on June 18, 1998 and was sold on March 11,1999 to Rodolfo Valera for $ US 224,000 as against its transfer value of $ US 280,000.  

The third property acquired by the Arroyos was the building on 737 Bush St.in San Francisco, CA, which was bought on November 11, 1992. The propertywas transferred to LTA on June 1998 and was sold to Prana Income Fund-sixLlc on June 14, 1999 for an undisclosed amount. 

KMP and Pamalakaya said the fourth property acquired by the Arroyos was a building in 1776 Sacramento St. San Francisco, CA which was paid by the First Couple for  $ US 1,912,000, transferred to LTA in June, 1998 and was sold on September 11, 1998 to Garlock Trust, an American firm for $ US2,300,000.# 
 

KMP - 12 May 2005


 
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