A party-list congressman has filed a resolution in the House seeking to probe alleged irregularities in the statement of assets and liabilities and net worth (SALN) filed by Representatives Juan Miguel “Mikee” Arroyo (2nd district, Pampanga) and Diosdado “Dato” Arroyo (1st district, Camarines Sur) and that of their mother President Arroyo.

Bayan Muna Party-list Representative Teodoro Casino said he is also considering the possibility of filing an ethics complaint against the two sons of Mrs. Arroyo in the House over their SALN.

Casino said he decided to file a resolution seeking to the probe instead of an immediate ethics complaint because he is not sure an ethics complaint will prosper at this time.

“A House inquiry is more prudent at this point,” he said.

Casino said an ethics complaint is under “thorough study” and would surely be filed once he completes the requirements for an effective complaint.

On Monday Casino filed House Resolution 1385 asking his peers to conduct an investigation on alleged irregularities in the SALN of President Arroyo and her two sons in Congress.

Casino said he would insist that the Arroyos, including the President, be invited to the House hearing to shed light on the matter.

The controversy was stirred by a report made by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) which said that her 2008 SALN showed that Mrs. Arroyo got rich faster than the three presidents before her.

The two presidential sons were later reported to have not included real estate properties in the US in their SALN.

“The latest report by VERA Files are just the latest in what many perceive are anomalies in Mikee's SALN since 2002, when he became a public official in Pampanga,” Casino said.

“For example, it has never been adequately explained how in just three years, from 2002 to 2005, Mikee increased his net worth by P71.9 million, or from P5 million to P76.9 million. And then in 2009, this further increased to P99 million. Definitely, he could not have amassed such wealth on his salary as a public official. But his SALN fails to indicate how he did it,” he also said.

“Just the same, her mother, the President, has failed to explain the dramatic increase in her net worth from P67 million in 2001 to P144 million in 2008. The President's SALN also fails to give a reasonable explanation,” he said.