MANILA – The Speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives ordered the 28 “junketeers†who joined President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during her recent working visit to the US to reimburse their travel and other expenses.
Speaker Prospero Nograles explained he issued the order after learning that Malacanang had paid for the air fare, hotel accommodations and even dining expenses of the lawmakers, some of whom were reportedly accompanied by their spouses.
Nograles added he signed the “travel orders†for the 28 members of the House, which entitled them to become official members of the presidential entourage.
But Nograles emphasized he allowed the lawmakers to join the trip on condition that they would use their personal funds, not that of the House, for their own travel and other expenses.
It did not turn out that way, however, as Malacanang took care of the expenses of the House members as disclosed by one of the junketeers, Congressman Bienvenido Abante Jr. of Manila and chairman of the House Committee on Public Information.
Abante, who holds the rank of bishop in a Protestant church in Manila, disclosed that when he was about to pay for his bill at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York the staff told him that it was already settled by an official of the Arroyo delegation whom he did not identify.
Abante also said he was willing to reimburse Malacanang whatever expenses he had incurred during the trip in compliance with the Nograles order.
But he emphasized that he would do so by using his travel allowance from the House to which he is entitled.
Abante refused to elaborate, but it was apparent he would use the Filipino taxpayers’ money to pay for such expenses as he said that each member of the House is entitled to a travel fund of one million pesos or $20,000 every year.
The lawmaker added he is not ashamed or embarrassed in using taxpayer’s money for his first trip with President Arroyo, saying:
“I can defend the use of my House travel funds. I worked during the visit. I attended congressional conferences with our US counterparts as well as meetings with members of the Filipino-American communities.â€
Other lawmakers disclosed that the delegation also included five newly-proclaimed party-list representatives, one of whom joined the party on his first working day.
Only two members of the Senate joined the Arroyo party whose stay in the US was marred by charges of “expensive and ostentatious†dining in first-class restaurants in Washington DC and New York.
They were Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and Senator Lito Lapid, an actor and staunch Arroyo political ally
who admitted that his main aim in joining the trip was to have a “photo opportunity†with US President Barack Obama.
But Lapid did not achieve his dream because only four members of the entourage, including Secretary Alberto Romulo of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Santiago, were accredited to accompany President Arroyo during her meeting with Obama at the White House on July 30.
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