ABIAS, Leonard Paul B.

September 23, 2009

CC11
HOW DO YOU EARN MILLIONS?
An Analysis on Mikey Arroyo’s Media Suicide with Arnold Clavio & Winnie
Monsod

At the very beginning of the interview, Mikee Arroyo it was very observable
that he had this very confident posture. The first question was about his share on
the company which owns the house. He gave a long pause before answering “Well, I
own about... 30% to 40, something like that.” When Monsod tried to clarify, he said
40% of the company is owned by his immediate family, not only Mikee’s. This was
said with four forceful hand pushes for emphasis. This seems to contradict his first
statement. He starts to slouch on his seat as the interview gets more intense. He
then straightened his back when Arnold presented the statement of Assests and
Liabilities and net worth. He keeps looking at the paper rather than making eye
contact with Clavio. It’s as if the paper is interviewing him. He starts to lose eye
contact with the two. It was audible enough that he toned down his voice as he
answered the question of Clavio about where he declared the house in the
statement. The confidence in his voice is also starting to disappear.
The way he said “That’s not hiding. It’s legal.” was very careful. He fixed his
coat followed by open hand gestures with shoulders raised as Mikee answered
Monsod back when she said “So, ganyan na ang ginagawa ngayon. They hide it in a
company.”
Two very fake and forced smiles from Mikee followed Monsod’s comment on
his big net worth increase. His statement was “Yung 2002, I was only vice-
governor” and an “OK?” tag statement as if he was forcing Monsod to believe him.
He involved the law in his statement to make things factual. He started to place his
hand between his knees as he was explaining. He gave a very defensive reaction
and statement “Di pa tayo sanay magdeclare noon, eh” followed by a “syempre” on
Clavio’s comment “So may mali dun sa 5 million?”
As Monsod was reading the figures on the SAL, Mikee looked away and kept
fixing his coat and smiled. He looked at the paper from time to time but not on
Monsod’s face. He wore a very annoyed look on his face. Even after Monsod read
the figures, his eyes were still looking away, as if he tried not to listen to the blather
that he is starting to get tired of. Mikee looking at Monsod then at the paper Clavio
was holding as she was saying “The point is, there is additional net worth to you
and we cannot see... hindi naming makita kung papano dumagdag ang income
ninyo to acquire that kind of net worth kasi iba pa yung iyong mga companies, hindi
ba?”
He did a hard push on his chest as he was saying “That is personal to me and
the law says there’s a way of amending that.” in response to Clavio’s comment.
A blank expression and big eyeballs on Mikee’s face as he was asked by
Monsod “Did you declare a collection of your previous assets and liabilities para
makita na “Naku! Nagkamali pala ako.” Then he gave this very careless answer: “As
far as I am concerned, as far as the lawyers, who have been preparing my SAL, they
did... we did our part to amend such errors.” Monsod thought that considering that
lawyers are educated in these matters, they are expected not to err – the very
reason Monsod called Mikee’s lawyers “bobs”. He started to squeeze himself in his
seat as he was about to correct himself from his very careless answer.

Clavio asked the name of his lawyer and Mikee answered rapidly an Atty. De
Guzman, then he followed it by a loud “As far as I’m concerned...” to prevent
questions about the attorney. He then said “I’m not hiding anything.” with a very
restless head and his hands all around the place. When he was asked “Isa lang ba
bahay mo sa Amerika?”, he said “Syempre naman!” in a very sure tone and “Baka
hindi para sa akin yun?” followed by huge smiles and giggles as he way toying
around with Clavio, apparently ignoring Monsod.
As he shifted from Clavio to Monsod, the smile slowly transformed to a
controlled anger facial expression showing that he was building a feeling of
discomfort with Monsod. He claimed that the house he first declared in his 2005 SAL
was sold, and he bought another house whose worth is higher, which was also sold
eventually. He explains that that is how it is in the real estate industry. You buy a
cheaper house, wait for market’s value to increase, and then sell it.
Mikee tries to clarify that the Arroyo family has no residence at all in the
United States, but in a follow up question by Monsod which was “So this house, you
never lived in?”, again he answered carelessly, “When I go to vacation, I stay
there.” then a sudden bulging of the eyes which signified that he knew he said
something which gave him away “No, just like the other share holders.” as if he was
trying to correct himself from his big mistake.
Monsod asks Mikee, “You want to tell us who the other shareholders are,
Mikee?” and Mikee answers that they are private citizens. Monsod says that it is a
corporation so their name must be in the public records. Mikee defends that these
share holders told him not to state their names on air. His look on his face was the
look of someone who is annoyed which he tried to neutralize with the giggles. His
biting of the lips and his unruly eyes and constant giggles and swaying on the chair
gives more color to his answers. His slouching a keeping himself away from the two
interviewers shows that now, he has an established feeling of discomfort against
the two, especially on Monsod.
Then, in the last few minutes of the interview, his angst against the two is
finally expressed as he said, “Pwede na bang sumagot? Pwede na? Pwede na tita?”
in a very aggressive tone just to stop Monsod from commenting. He explained in his
defense that his SAL was self-explanatory. A “Tawa kayo agad eh.” statement
coming from Mikee followed as Monsod and Clavio were about to comment again on
his claim. Monsod gave him a very curious look. Mikee accused Monsod and Clavio
of refusing to believe his answers to the question that is why, according to him, he
suggested that questions be asked to his lawyers. He tried to keep his composure
by smiling and giggling. As he was explaining himself more, he used very strong
defensive gestures like the repeatedly outward movement of the hands. He then
said that everything in the SAL is legal and not ill-gotten wealth as Clavio
suggested. He then said in a bragging tone, “Ill-gotten? Di naman gano kalakihan
yan.” Monsod asked an explanation from Mikee as a P71 M is not a small difference
as Mikee claims. As he was explaining, his stooping and squeezing of his hand in
between his knees were getting worse. He claimed that his wedding and his
electoral campaign made way for monetary offers which he said made things
easier. His explanations were given color due to his whispering tone and restless
head and hands. His eyes were again looking away. Then, bravely, he said,
“So, why don’t any of you sue me in court to get it over with!” like he was
challenging the two interviewers after saying that the ombudsman was not taking
the initiative.
To end the interview, he hit Monsod perhaps with the line, “For people who
refuse to listen, it (net worth increase) is unexplainable.” Monsod gave a loud
sarcastic laugh and four pats on Mikee’s back. Mikee ended by thanking Monsod in
a very childish tone.