Philippine Political Opinions

Together with complaints against the officials of ZTE namely Lorenzo Formoso, Elmer Soneja, Yu Yong, George Zhuying, Fan Yan, and Hou Wei, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her husband First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo were dismissed yesterday. Also cleared in the case were Jose "Joey" de Venecia and Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza. But the Office of the Ombudsman charged former elections chief Benjamin Abalos and Social Security System president Romulo Neri guilty. Cases of violation of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act will be filed against Abalos and Neri before the Sandiganbayan. Where also a separate case for “corruption of public officials,” or a violation of Article 212 of the Revised Penal Code, was likewise recommended against Abalos, which will be lodged before the Metropolitan Trial Court of Mandaluyong City. A 144-page joint resolution was dated April 21, 2009 but was approved only on Aug. 27 by overall deputy ombudsman Or...

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 t...

Note: this picture was just downloaded from the web. I didn't edit it. Malacañang admitted yesterday that the Office of the President had exceeded its budget allocation for travel expenses by over P1 billion from 2001 to 2009 but insisted that there was nothing wrong with it. Deputy Executive Secretary for administration and finance Susana Vargas presented figures showing the overspending at a press briefing in Malacañang yesterday. Vargas disclosed that P1.4 billion had been allocated for local and foreign trips of the Office of the President (OP) from 2001 to 2009 but the actual amount spent was close to P2.5 billion. Vargas noted that on a yearly basis, the OP received P130 million for travel expenses until 2007, when the figure was raised to P170 million and then to P244.6 million each for 2008 and this year. Malacañang’s disclosure came on the heels of an announcement by Bukidnon Rep. Teofisto Guingona III that the OP exceeded its travel budget by P1.3 billion from 2002 to 200...

I thought that my last post about President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s state visit entourage dined at the cost of $20,000 (about P1 million) at Le Cirque Restaurant in the New York City was the LAST of her "simple dining", later did I know that I was wrong. Wait, I was partly right, they didn't dine again at Le Cirque and that was their last in their "simple dining" when they are at the United States for their visit. Certainly that was their last because they have eaten at Bobby Van's Steakhouse on 15th Street, Washington DC, hours after Ms. Arroyo's meeting with US President Barack Obama. With Ms. Arroyo is about 65 people, including security and food tasters. Where according to the Washington Post's Reliable Source column with the title of "Heartburn Over Two Big Meals": "The group took over one of the restaurant's private rooms and dined on lobster, steak and fine wines; at the conclusion of the meal, an unidentified woman open...

As the alleged $20,000 bill on a dinner held at the worlds famous Le Cirque in New York City circulating around the web and one of the hottest issues in politics. BUT Malacañang won't say sorry for that as Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said when asked if the palace would apologize. “If the dinner was really ostentatious, then there has to be an apology, but it wasn’t ostentatious and I stand by that”, he said pointing to Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez as the guest who paid for the dinner that a New York tabloid said cost $20,000 (almost P1 million). “That is unfair. It was not FM (Ferdinand Martin Romualdez) but his brother Daniel who footed the bill,” lawyer Nick Esmale, the congressman’s legal and media liaison officer, said on the phone. Daniel is an architect living in New York since 1986, was among the most successful Filipinos working and among the highest paid in his field. Representative Romualdez is a nephew of former first lady Imelda Marcos, one of the richest mem...

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo apologizes on Corazon "Cory" Cojuangco-Aquino's family about the said security detail pullout before their mom's death saying it's just a "bureaucratic slip-up". Press Secretary Cerge Remonde apologized to the Aquino family for their anguish over the incident and said the move was not intentional and even they (including the president) were shocked about the news. He also added that the President ordered the Armed Forces and the Philippine National Police to extend all assistance to the Aquino family for the wake and burial of the country's first woman president. Asked if Mrs. Arroyo will still attend Aquino's wake, he said: "The President will do what she needs to do." He also appealed to the people in Manila not to put any political color to her action. Where Sen. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, earlier said he is not keen on seeing Mrs. Arroyo at his mother's wake or funeral. He added, how...

Malacañang declared this Aug. 5 as a special non-working holiday for the Filipino to witness the late former President Corazon "Cory" Cojuangco-Aquino before she will laid to rest, beside her late husband, former Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. A mass will be held at 9 a.m. at the Manila Cathedral before the burial. Deputy presidential spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo earlier announced that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has cut short her United States trip in order to make it to Aquino’s funeral service on Wednesday. President Arroyo declared a 10-day period of national mourning (Aug. 1 to Aug. 10) over the death of Aquino through Proclamation No. 1850. Aquino, 76, succumbed to colon cancer on Saturday at 3:18 a.m. In my opinion, Mrs. Arroyo would like to show us that she respects the late former president but the Arroyo's action towards her contradicts everything. Not even with former Presidenr Aquino but also to her late husband. “Through the years, Mrs. Ar...

Finally Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and US President Barack Obama met on Thursday afternoon (early Friday morning in Manila time) at the White House. The meeting lasted for about 45 minutes and was held at the Oval Office. Ms. Arroyo was accompanied by several people: Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, House Speaker Prospero Nograles, presidential adviser on climate change Heherson Alvarez, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo and Philippine Ambassador to the US Willy Gaa. "We are proud to have 4 million persons of Filipino ancestry contributing to our country each and every day in all walks of life. The fact that we have Filipino veterans who have walked side by side with American soldiers on behalf of freedom, all those things that have strengthened the relations of our two countries," he said hailing the relationship between the two allies. "I am very pleased that President Arroyo has made such good progress on ...