Gloria gets richer fastest, beats Cory, Ramos, Erap

First of Three Parts

A FORTNIGHT ago in her ninth State of the Nation Address, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo fired sharp, staccato broadsides at her critics, and in a tone bold and boastful declared: I am falsely accused, without proof, of using my position for personal profit.

There isnt a day, she said, I do not work at my job or a waking moment when I do not think through a work-related problem. Even my critics cannot begrudge the long hours I put in.

A president must be on the job 24/7, ready for any contingency, any crisis, anywhere, anytime, Arroyo continued, because the people deserve a government that works just as hard as they do.

By all indications, President Arroyo has worked very hard. In fact, she has worked so hard that during her first years as president, official records show her declared wealth as growing faster, and by amounts much bigger, than the combined growth in the declared wealth of three presidents before her.

The late President Corazon C. Aquinos declared net worth grew by only 4.8 percent from 1989 to 1992. By comparison, Fidel V. Ramoss rose by 34.2 percent from 1992 to 1998, and Joseph Erap Ejercito Estradas, by 7.2 percent from 1998 to1999.

PCIJ reports in 2000, though, revealed that the mansions and other assets held by Estrada and his mistresses were worth multiple times more than his declared net worth. Less than a year later, Arroyo came to power after a botched impeachment trial of Estrada for unexplained wealth triggered a people-power revolt.

READ MORE…..3 PARTS REPORT http://www.pcij.org/stories/2009/arroyo-wealth.html

Duration : 0:5:54

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