Rep. Suarez Produces the Receipt For Washington Dinner
Quezon 3rd District Rep. Danilo Suarez produced the receipt of the dinner of the President and her party at Washington DC's upscale Bobby Van's restaurant, which he claims he paid.
The receipt Suarez showed that the total bill was around $15,000, and the itemized list showed various steaks, salads, drinks, and other food items the group ordered.
"It so happened that we are such in a place na mataas ang standard of living. 'Wag na nating gawing issue na mahal, dahil talagang mahal doon," Suarez said.
Meanwhile, Batangas 2nd district Rep. Hermilando Mandanas said he could not remember who footed the bill on two other meals the presidential entourage had while in the United States.
In New York City, the group also dined at the Wolfgang Steakhouse for lunch and had dinner at the fine dining restaurant Bouley.
Wolfgang's Steakhouse is associated with celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck, while Bouley is owned by another star chef, David Bouley.
Mandanas said he remembers the menu had salad, duck, and wine.
"Masasabi ko sa 'yo, walang champagne, walang caviar, wala noon... May choice ka ng salad o soup to start with... pagkatapos main course, meron kang choice na seafood o duck," he said in an interview.
Price ranges don't differ
The price range of the food in these two restaurants do not stray away from those of the two other restaurants in which the president's group dined in - Le Cirque in New York, and Bobby Van's.
According to a New York magazine's Web site, a salad course at Wolfgang's Steakhouse costs $11 (roughly P528), and main courses average $38 (roughly P1,728).
Bouley's Web site, meanwhile, showed that a salad costs around $21 (roughly P1,008), and main courses average $72 (around P3,456).
Malacañang had earlier defended this. A Palace official had said that they cannot allow the president to eat just anywhere.
Overspent
As my last post pointed out that Palace officials also admitted that they have spent more than the estimated P1.4 billion budget for foreign travels of the President since 2001, after Bukidnon 2nd Dist. Rep. Teofisto Guingona III revealed the budget overrun.
Data from Malacañang showed that the allocation for foreign travels were P1,439,232,000, but the actual costs have skyrocketed to P2,499,280,595.08.
Malacañang, however, said they did not violate anything despite spending over budget.
"When the congressman says 'yong kabuuan noong contingency fund naubos sa biyahe, he is wrong. The contingency fund can be used for other MOOE in excess of allocations as provided by the law. So he misspeaks," Presidential Spokesperson for Economic Affairs Gary Olivar said.
The lower House, meanwhile, said they are ready to investigate the expenses of the Office of the President on foreign trips in next year's budget hearing. Taken from ABS-CBN News with a report from RG Cruz.
In my opinion, I don't believe Rep. Madanas' statement that he could not remember who footed the bill on the two other meals. Even in my own experience, I can't forget the friend who footed even just the softdrinks after we eat in a restaurant. So, it's very impossible to forget who footed the bill specially on an abroad dinner and specially on that huge amount of bill in the receipt.
Oh! Come on! It's a good alibi than saying that they forgot the name of the place.
The receipt Suarez showed that the total bill was around $15,000, and the itemized list showed various steaks, salads, drinks, and other food items the group ordered.
"It so happened that we are such in a place na mataas ang standard of living. 'Wag na nating gawing issue na mahal, dahil talagang mahal doon," Suarez said.
Meanwhile, Batangas 2nd district Rep. Hermilando Mandanas said he could not remember who footed the bill on two other meals the presidential entourage had while in the United States.
In New York City, the group also dined at the Wolfgang Steakhouse for lunch and had dinner at the fine dining restaurant Bouley.
Wolfgang's Steakhouse is associated with celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck, while Bouley is owned by another star chef, David Bouley.
Mandanas said he remembers the menu had salad, duck, and wine.
"Masasabi ko sa 'yo, walang champagne, walang caviar, wala noon... May choice ka ng salad o soup to start with... pagkatapos main course, meron kang choice na seafood o duck," he said in an interview.
Price ranges don't differ
The price range of the food in these two restaurants do not stray away from those of the two other restaurants in which the president's group dined in - Le Cirque in New York, and Bobby Van's.
According to a New York magazine's Web site, a salad course at Wolfgang's Steakhouse costs $11 (roughly P528), and main courses average $38 (roughly P1,728).
Bouley's Web site, meanwhile, showed that a salad costs around $21 (roughly P1,008), and main courses average $72 (around P3,456).
Malacañang had earlier defended this. A Palace official had said that they cannot allow the president to eat just anywhere.
Overspent
As my last post pointed out that Palace officials also admitted that they have spent more than the estimated P1.4 billion budget for foreign travels of the President since 2001, after Bukidnon 2nd Dist. Rep. Teofisto Guingona III revealed the budget overrun.
Data from Malacañang showed that the allocation for foreign travels were P1,439,232,000, but the actual costs have skyrocketed to P2,499,280,595.08.
Malacañang, however, said they did not violate anything despite spending over budget.
"When the congressman says 'yong kabuuan noong contingency fund naubos sa biyahe, he is wrong. The contingency fund can be used for other MOOE in excess of allocations as provided by the law. So he misspeaks," Presidential Spokesperson for Economic Affairs Gary Olivar said.
The lower House, meanwhile, said they are ready to investigate the expenses of the Office of the President on foreign trips in next year's budget hearing. Taken from ABS-CBN News with a report from RG Cruz.
In my opinion, I don't believe Rep. Madanas' statement that he could not remember who footed the bill on the two other meals. Even in my own experience, I can't forget the friend who footed even just the softdrinks after we eat in a restaurant. So, it's very impossible to forget who footed the bill specially on an abroad dinner and specially on that huge amount of bill in the receipt.
Oh! Come on! It's a good alibi than saying that they forgot the name of the place.
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