The graft complaint lodged Thursday against presidential son and Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo was filed to test Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez's seriousness in doing her job, militant government workers who lodged the complaint said Friday. Confederation for the Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (Courage) head Ferdinand Gaite said that when they filed their complaint, they were aware of accusations that Gutierrez sat on cases involving members of the First Family. “We are not just following the constitutional processes. We are also testing the Ombudsman. Many people have lost faith in her office, so it is up to her to show serious effort to go after grafters. If she is not serious in this case, we leave it to the people to judge her,” Gaite, speaking Filipino, said in an interview on dzXL radio. Malaca?ang's critics perceive Gutierrez to be an ally of the First Family, being a batch mate of First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo in law school. The Ombudsman also came under fire recently for tightening the rules on access to the Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs) of government officials. Lawmakers slammed the Ombudsman Wednesday for tightening public access to government officials' SALNs. Gaite also admitted Friday that Courage members had debated among themselves whether to lodge the graft case against Mikey because of the perception that Gutierrez favors the Arroyos. “We debated among ourselves whether to push through with this complaint, because many have lost faith in the ombudsman. But the Ombudsman is supposedly the independent agency tasked to go after grafters,” he said. Last Thursday, Courage filed the complaint against Mikey for his failure to declare in his SALN a property he acquired in the United States in 2006. [See: Graft raps filed vs Mikey over undeclared US property] But Assistant Ombudsman Mark Jalandoni claimed that the investigation into Mikey's SALN had started a week ago based on an anonymous complaint filed online on the Ombudsman website. Mikey found himself in the center of controversy last week after the media investigative group Vera Files reported that he did not declare in his SALNs a P63.7-million residential house he acquired in San Francisco, California after he became a congressman. Mikey denied irregularities in his SALN, saying the house was owned by Beach Way LLC, a company where he is a shareholder. He said his being a shareholder of the firm was reflected in his SALN.
