Arroyo richer by P79 M since becoming President

[explorer]

from: www.inquirer.net

[SIZE="3"]Arroyo richer by P79 M since becoming President[/SIZE]

By Edson C. Tandoc Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 13:46:00 04/30/2010

MANILA, Philippines—(UPDATE) President Macapagal-Arroyo is leaving Malacanang richer by more than P79 million than when she took over in 2001—and without any debts—thanks largely to her investments in shares of stock that ballooned from only P7.5 million in 2000 to more than P71.3 million as of last year.

In her statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) for 2009 filed on Thursday with the Office of the Ombudsman, Ms Arroyo declared that her net worth has reached P145.791 million, up by only P1.251 million from 2008.

The amount is more than P79 million higher than the net worth of P66.784 million that she reported in her first SALN as President that was filed in April 2002.

The President declared no liabilities in her latest SALN.

Ms Arroyo gets an annual salary of P693,000—or about P57,000 a month.

Last year, the Office of the Ombudsman issued revised guidelines in requesting copies of SALNs. Some groups lambasted the new rules, saying they were meant to protect officials.

But getting copies of SALNs this year was much faster and simpler than it was in the previous years, as the Ombudsman now just requires students and media people to complete a request form.

Ms Arroyo assumed the presidency after President Joseph Estrada was ousted following massive street protests dubbed as Edsa Dos in January 2001.

The deadline for filing SALNs for a given year is April 30 of the following year.

Ms Arroyo did not list any investments in stocks in her 2001 SALN, but her 2000 SALN listed some P7.5 million worth of stocks.

The same 2000 SALN also declared three companies where her husband, First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, has investments: LTA, Inc.; LTA Realty and JJ Agricultural Corp.

Her stock investments skyrocketed to P110.437 million in 2008, but she listed only one company where her husband had investments: the La Vista Investments and Holdings, Inc.

She also declared some P33 million worth of liabilities in the form of notes payable in 2008.

But her most recent SALN showed Ms Arroyo had cleared all her liabilities, although her stock investments shrank to P71.311 million. She again listed the La Vista Investments and Holdings, Inc. as the sole company where her husband has investments.

There were no differences from the worth of her real properties between 2008 and 2009, although the amount nearly doubled from 2001 to 2009.

Ms Arroyo declared five properties worth P3.537 million in her 2001 SALN: a house and lot in Baguio City, a residential lot in Antipolo City, a commercial lot in Quezon, and two agricultural lots in Bulacan and Batangas.

She no longer listed the P4.7-million agricultural lot in Bulacan in her 2009 SALN, but she declared she also bought a pice of land in Coron, Palawan, in 2005 and a fish pond in Malolos, Bulacan in 2007.

Her real properties were worth P5.697 million as of 2009.

She also listed more than P13 million in "notes receivables" as among her P140.094 million worth of personal properties in her 2009 SALN.

In the same form, Ms Arroyo named six relatives holding government positions as of 2009.

These are her sons, Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo and Camarines Sur Rep. Diosdado Arroyo, her brother-in-law, Negros Occidental Rep. Ignacio Arroyo Jr., her sister-in-law Ang Kasangga party-list Rep. Ma. Lourdes Arroyo and her cousins Erlinda De Leon and Carlos De Leon, who are both assistants in the Office of the President.

[boybi]

Maliit lang naman pala ang kinorakot nya e

[tidus1203]

Cheap change for someone who has been President for 9 years... But then again most of these SAL's are understated anyway...

[tabularasa]

Multiply it by 10 and you'll get the conservative amount. Multiply it by another 10, then that would be the approximate amount she took from us!

[ghosthunter]

I doubt the truthfulness of the actual amount.

Maybe it's US$79M?

[tabularasa]

I doubt the truthfulness of the actual amount.

Maybe it's US$79M?

That's puny. Place additional zeros, mas magiging kapanipaniwala.