Palace asked to explain GMA’s $20,000 dinner tab in Le Cirque, New York
The umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan called on Malacanang to
explain the $20,000 dinner tab it allegedly incurred while dining in Le
Cirque restaurant in New York during President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s.
News of the lavish dinner spending came in out in the August 7 edition of
the New York Post. According to writer Richard Johnson, “the economic
downturn hasn't persuaded everyone to pinch pennies. Philippines President
Maria Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was at Le Cirque the other night with a
large entourage enjoying the good life, even though the former comptroller
of her country's armed services, Carlos Garcia, was found guilty earlier
this year of per jury and two of his sons were arrested in the US on bulk
cash-smuggling charges. Macapagal-Arroyo ordered several bottles of very
expensive wine, pushing the dinner tab up to $20,000.”
The short article appeared on the Eat and Drink section of Page Six of the
NY Post online edition. http://www.nypost.com/seven/08072009/gossip/pagesix/eat_and_drink_183333.htm
“Malacanang has a lot of explaining to do about this latest allegation
which came out in an American paper. Who spent for the lavish dinner? Is
it appropriate for a head of state of a Third World country like Mrs.
Arroyo to wine and dine in such a manner, given that we’re in the midst of
a crisis?”, asked Bayan secretary general Renato M. Reyes, Jr.
“This is one dinner that certainly leaves a bad taste in the mouth, at
least for the rest of the Filipino people,” Reyes added.
The $20,000 bill is equivalent to around P960,000 or almost a million. The
group said that even if someone else paid for the tab, it still would not
look appropriate. “It’s embarrassing for the Philippines to have such
write-ups appear in a foreign paper. It begs the question, what is Mrs.
Arroyo really doing during her trips? Are tax-payers being made to
shoulder the lavish lifestyles of the so-called rich and famous?” he
added.
Reyes also pointed out that the reputation of corruption seemed to have
stuck with Philippine officials, with the article even citing the case of
former Armed Forces of the Philippines comptroller General Carlos Garcia
who was convicted of perjury and who’s two sons were arrested in the US on
charges of bulk-cash smuggling.
“This ostentatious display of affluence reminiscent of Imelda Marcos
reinforces the perception that Philippine officials are corrupt and are
living it up while others wallow in crisis. It is truly disappointing and
disgusting,” Reyes said.
In a study, released in early November 2008 as part of Gallup’s World Food
Day survey, 40%, or 4 in 10, Filipinos reported that they experienced
hunger “often or sometimes” in the last 12 months.###
Let them eat dirt
Luis Teodoro
It’s no hot dog stand, but it’s no Max’s Restaurant either. Its owner
Sirio Maccioni describes it in its website (www.lecirque.com) as “a place
where the worlds of food, fashion, art and culture converge,” although he
doesn’t say how it enables patrons to live, or even to just think about,
art and culture between the soup and the entrée.
New York’s Le Cirque seats about 150 in separate dining, private event and
bar areas. Its décor of yellow and orange evokes “ a circus big top that
actually looks more like the inside of a humungous lamp shade.”
The above observation occurs in a 2008 review of Le Cirque by New York
Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni. It’s titled, with tongue firmly in
cheek, “In Defense of Decadence” (an allusion to food activist Michael
Pollan’s book In Defense of Food, which advocates eating simple organic
food and “mostly plants”). The Bruni review describes Le Cirque offerings
as “opulent,” “luxurious,” “ostentatious, “wanton,” and “craven” among
other epithets. And all for consumption in “a setting of deliberate
pompousness.”
The owner, said Bruni, is in his restaurant practically every night,
“beckoning you to come in and exhorting you to go for broke, a stubborn
evangelist for unblushing indulgence. What he’s selling is not so much one
evening of pleasure as a whole history, a whole legend, of privilege and
pampering.”
Bruni gave Le Cirque a rating of three stars and a half out of a possible
four, together with a list of recommended dishes. He did express some
guilt over his endorsement of such indulgence, which during the current
economic crisis comes off as uncool except for the nouveau riche and the
not-so-nouveau moneyed.
Other reviewers have been less kind. Some claim that Le Cirque
intentionally makes non-celebrities feel worthless by giving them bad
tables and providing mediocre service while still charging exorbitant
prices. From Bruni’s and these reviewers’ description, Le Cirque does
sound like a place where arrivistes, celebrities and the important, as
well as those “scarily expert at looking that way” (Bruni), come to be
seen. A few embezzlers, Mafiosi, and the shameless rulers of certain poor
third world countries won’t be out of place in Le Cirque
Indeed they haven’t been. The Ponzi scheme swindler Bernard Madoff, who’s
in prison for 150 years, was reportedly a patron. In a just world he would
be on trial for genocide and other high crimes at the International
Criminal Court for orchestrating the carpet bombing of Indochina and the
brutal 1973 coup in Chile. But former US Secretary of State Henry
Kissinger still frequents Le Cirque. Maybe the cholesterol in the pate
foie gras will get him. No fair wishing the same of our own little Madoffs
(the pyramid scammers) and Kissingers (those responsible for
extra-judicial killings). They deserve worse.
But before Palace propagandist
Cerge Remonde goes into another paroxysm against the media, whether here
or abroad, we probably need to inform him that Bruni is a prize-winning
journalist and a Pulitzer Prize finalist, with about 30 years’ experience
reporting everything from child abuse to US presidential campaigns. The
New York Times says he has covered Washington DC, was the NYT bureau chief
in Rome, and is a best selling author of, among others, a book on George
W. Bush (Ambling Into History, 2003).
All that makes Bruni credible,
even if his newspaper hasn’t always been (particularly during the run-up
to the US invasion of Iraq in 2003). Note his adjectives, then. “Simple” —
which Cerge Remonde, who has little, if any, respect for the oral or
written word, used to describe his boss Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and
company’s July 31 dinner at Le Cirque — “simple” isn’t one of them.
“Ostentatious,” “wanton” and “craven” are particularly memorable. Of equal
interest is the information that for prime dinner time, patrons have to
call two weeks in advance, which means that, despite Remonde’s and others
in the Arroyo retinue ‘s implication that the dinner was a
spur-of-the-moment thing, it was planned at least two weeks in advance.
But let’s not get into such details as the fact that Le Cirque wasn’t the
only high- end restaurant where Arroyo and company dined before and after
her precious 30-minute visit with Barack Obama. In one steak house, the
dinner bill of US$15,000 came close to the US$20,000 the gang spent at Le
Cirque. The Le Cirque dinner has been justly described as outrageous,
excessive, disgusting, and more, in the context of the fact that between 2
million to 3.7 million families go hungry regularly in the Philippines and
together with rats and stray dogs have to scrounge for food in garbage
bins and other places far far away from Le Cirque. No caviar, pate de foie
gras, Chilean sea bass and French champagne to wash it down for them.
But as scandals during the Arroyo watch go, this one isn’t any more or
less offensive to morals, good taste or plain decency than election fraud,
the ZTE-NBN scandal, the P500,00 payoffs to congressmen in exchange for
their support for charter change, the padding of the National Artists’
list with the names of Arroyo pets, etc.etc. It’s par for the course, and
the question is why, despite being several times exposed, the Arroyo
clique keeps doing things like this.
Unlike the meal Remonde and company enjoyed during their “working dinner”
at Le Cirque, the answer is simple enough. The current ruling clique
doesn’t care about public opinion, because it believes that it can do what
it pleases no matter what the country’s laws and the Constitution, simple
morality, or plain good taste say.
Neither does it particularly care about the Filipino people, especially
the ones who’re slowly starving their way to an early grave in this
earthly paradise. In that sense it’s just like Le Cirque: it doesn’t care
about people unless they’re rich and powerful (we have to grant that
Arroyo and company do care about what Barack Obama thinks). Except that
the poor don’t even get a place at the table in the country of their
despair. At Le Cirque they’ll at least give you a table by the kitchen
door even if you’re nobody.
(BusinessWorld)
Malacanang asked to explain
$15,000 dinner in Bobby Van’s Steakhouse in DC
News Release August 13, 2008
BAYAN
Malacanang asked to explain $15,000 dinner in Bobby Van’s Steakhouse in DC
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is under fire again for reportedly
spending some $15,000 at a well-known steakhouse in Washington DC during
her recent US trip. Both the Washington Post and the New York Post
reported that Mrs. Arroyo and company wined and dined at Bobby Van’s
Steakhouse in DC, three days before her now infamous $20,000 dinner at Le
Cirque in New York.
The Washington Post in a column on August 12 called The Reliable Source
reported that it “has learned that Arroyo and an entourage of about 65
people (including security and food tasters) had dinner at Bobby Van's
Steakhouse on 15th Street NW hours after she met with President Obama. 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 opened a handbag stuffed with cash, counted out bills
and paid the $15,000 tab -- which included a generous tip.”
The New York Post on the other hand reported that “Before their $20,000
meal at Le Cirque, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and an
entourage of about 65 -- complete with food tasters, Secret Service and a
kitchen monitor to watch food preparation -- dined at Bobby Van's
Steakhouse in DC on July 30. "The party spared no expense, and had
lobster, steak and expensive wines," said a source. "They paid their
$15,000 bill, including a generous tip, with cash -- which was counted
out, unseen, underneath a table by a staff member." Meanwhile, we've
learned that Philippine Congressman Martin Romualdez, who allegedly paid
for the Le Cirque feast, is a nephew of Imelda Marcos -- who was exiled
and acquitted in the US of racketeering charges before returning to her
country.”
“Have they no shame? This is
the second time reports have called attention to what has been perceived
as lavish spending on the part of Mrs. Arroyo’s entourage during their US
trip. Malacanang cannot just dismiss these allegations as
agitation-propaganda. The people demand an explanation, some transparency
and accountability. We cannot blame people for being outraged over these
reports,” said Bayan secretary general Renato M. Reyes, Jr.
“The Bobby Van’s dinner can still be considered excessive spending. Even
if there were 65 people in the entourage, at $15,000, this would mean $230
per person. This is still way above normal, even by American standards. By
Philippine standards, that’s like spending P11,000 per person,” Reyes
added.
Bayan warned Malacanang that the people’s patience grows thin with the
constant evasion and obfuscation being done the Palace spokespersons.
“We’d hope for some humility and honesty on the part of the president and
her spokespersons. We detest the arrogance and utter lack of remorse being
shown by this administration. What is happening is simply disgusting. They
dined like kings, not once, but twice!” Reyes said.
“At this point, people deserve to know the full extent of the spending
done by the President’s entourage during their stay in the US. This should
serve as a negative example for future public officials. No longer should
this type of lavish spending be tolerated or covered up,” he added. ###
Photo by Anakbayan
Press Statement
August 10, 2009
Reference: RENATO M. REYES, JR
Bayan Secretary General
On Sec. Remonde’s tirades against BAYAN
Press Secretary Serge Remonde should just stick to the issue instead of
hurling irrelevant accusations against BAYAN, lest he wants people to
believe that BAYAN is now sitting on the editorial board of the New York
Post.
BAYAN was not the original source of the story but the New York Post. It
is therefore ridiculous to say that the issue of Mrs. Arroyo’s dinner at
Le Cirque restaurant in New York is part of “agitation-propaganda” against
the Arroyo government. Remonde has gone on to accuse BAYAN of being a
“communist front” that seeks to overthrow the government.
No, Sec. Remonde, we didn’t start the fire. But you are surely fanning it.
Even if it was Rep. Martin Romualdez (another public official) who paid
for it, it doesn’t make the New York dinner any less revolting. The
perception remains that Philippine public officials are living it up while
the rest of the Filipinos wallow in poverty.
The worn-out red-baiting being done by Remonde is meant to evade the basic
question of accountability for public officials. People, including critics
of government, have every right to ask questions involving the conduct and
lifestyle of public officials. These Supposed public servants are held up
to a high standard of accountability and morality, whether they are in the
Philippines or in another country.
Sec. Remonde should watch his words. Many of BAYAN's members and
affiliates have been killed because they were called “communist fronts”
and “enemies of the state”. Remonde seems to be echoing a line that we
have also heard from the likes of Gen. Jovito Palparan. ###
=
==
Streetwise
Streetwise
By Carol Pagaduan-Araullo
A reason to celebrate
Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her cabal are at the end of their rope
and they don’t know it, or pretend not to. They are so isolated, so inured
from criticism and have so far gotten away with so much mayhem that they
do not half realize how outraged the people are. Having lied and bribed
their way out of the “Hello Garci”, NBN-ZTE and other scandals, they think
they can get away with their orgy of lavish dining in the US through
flimsy explanations, ridiculous alibis, worn-out justifications and squid
tactics.
Presidential buffoon aka spokesperson Serge Remonde tried McCarthyist
red-scare tactics by simply dismissing the New York Post news report of
the Le Cirque million-peso dinner for the presidential party as the
invention of the Leftist alliance BAYAN. According to the
intellectually-challenged Mr. Remonde, BAYAN is a communist-front
organization whose sole purpose in life is to bring down the Arroyo
government ergo it cannot be believed on anything much less the report
that the Arroyo party was spending precious public funds in restaurants
for the rich and famous like there was no tomorrow.
When that didn’t work and news of another pricey meal and then another
surfaced, Mrs. Arroyo’s defenders, including her son Congressman Mikey
Arroyo, tried to pooh-pooh the dinner as inexpensive by US standards,
saying that one can’t compromise the dignity of the office of the
President of the Republic by having her eat at a hotdog stand or turo-turo.
Such a ludicrous equation of one’s self-worth with the price tag of one’s
meal fell to pieces once the press reminded everyone that US President
Obama and his Vice-President are not above dropping in on their friendly
neighborhood hamburger joint for a quick, satisfying meal. In fact, such
folksy behavior has the immediate and perhaps intended effect of boosting
the popularity of Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden.
But what’s the big deal, says the Palace, the government didn’t foot the
bill after all. Mrs. Arroyo’s political allies like multi-millionaire
Congressmen Messrs. Romualdez and Suarez representing dirt-poor provinces
like Leyte and Quezon were honored to pay for the presidential repasts.
Someone always happened to pick up the bill and it would have been
impolite to ask who, so why the big hullabaloo?
Given the penchant of this administration for quickly washing its hands of
any wrong doing by passing the buck to someone else, the public isn’t
biting. More especially when the promised accounting for the outlay of
the US trip doesn’t materialize; when House Speaker Nograles feels
compelled to declare in a press conference that congressmen, like himself,
who joined Mrs. Arroyo’s US trip will personally pay for their own
expenses once they get the statement of account (so the junket was indeed
a freebie to begin with); when the Justice Secretary admits that her
office paid for her expenditures during the trip; and most telling of all,
when Malacañang is forced to admit that while the allocation for
presidential foreign travels since 2001 up to the present is
P1,439,232,000, the actual costs have skyrocketed to P2,499,280,595.08 or
over a billion pesos more than budgeted.
The latest government line is that budget overruns for Mrs. Arroyo’s
foreign travels are not illegal and they are more than justified by the
“billions in investments’ that such trips bring to the country. Apart
from the glowing government press releases about agreements for future
investments or expressions of business interest in investing in the
Philippines, the available data about a decreasing trend in foreign direct
investments since 2008 tend to belie official claims even as there is
serious criticism as to whether such investments have actually been
beneficial for the country or have in fact deepened its mal-development
over the years.
A lot has been said, correctly
and in rightful indignation, of how outrageous and out rightly scandalous
the orgy of lavish dinners was. All commentaries attribute the Palace
faux pas to insensitivity, lack of delicadeza, gluttony, etc but one
wonders if we have gotten to the bottom of things or exhausted all the
reasons why the Arroyo entourage did not think twice about squandering
millions of pesos on two meals in a single day.
At first glance, all these would appear to be quite the “natural” behavior
of a president in hubris -- especially an illegitimate, plundering and
profligate one -- who is about to bow out of office and all its perks and
privileges. Eat and enjoy all you can, while you can, critics be damned.
But look again. Would any congressman, even the most loyal, blow a million
bucks for a single meal if he thought Mrs. Arroyo was a lame duck
president? Was the much sought-after audience with Mr. Obama a factor in
going into an orgy of lavish dining after the 40-minute meeting?
Of course Mrs. Arroyo, with
her negative popularity ratings has, for the longest time, been desperate
for a photo-op with the popular US President. The brief audience,
regardless of the result or content, was reason enough to celebrate. More
than being a propaganda coup, it was by all indications a boost to her
legitimacy, much to the chagrin of uncritically pro-US opposition
leaders. The designation as anti-terrorist coordinator for the US in the
ASEAN ups Mrs. Arroyo’s image and stature as closest US ally and
collaborator in the region. This translates concretely into more US
military aid, political backing and financial gains, e.g. loans and
investments as a result of a better image of political stability.
It is worthwhile to note that shortly after this designation, the US
Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Command Adm. Timothy Keating arrived for
a meeting of the Enhanced Security Board with Armed Forces of the
Philippines Chief Gen. Victor Ibrado. Was it mere coincidence that the
AFP launched a military offensive to capture a major Abu Sayyaf stronghold
in Basilan during the visit? The operation, if successful and with
minimum casualties, would have been impressive pogi points for Mrs. Arroyo
and the AFP. But the fiasco of suffering 22 dead and more wounded, and
the unexpected involvement of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the
battle, spoiled all plans and attempts to claim a major victory in the
counter-terrorist war and affirm the designation as Southeast Asia’s
counter-terrorism top honcho.
But why, in the first place, would a lame duck president and her retinue
of ass lickers be so thrilled and elated at her being named regional
counter-terrorist czar that she couldn’t help splurging on a USD
15-thousand lunch followed by another USD 20-thouand dinner?
In the same vein, why would Mrs. Arroyo want to purchase a new
presidential jet worth 1.5 billion pesos less than a year before she steps
down from office, the comfort and security of the next Malacañang occupant
being the least likely of her concerns.
There is one more than plausible explanation. None of those insatiable
creatures, whose craving for pelf and power is matched only by their
appetite for exorbitant wining and dining, ever believed that Mrs. Arroyo
would be stepping down in 2010. That, more than anything else, is what
they felt they had come closer to achieving with the Obama audience. #
Statement
August 12, 2009
Reference: Peter Arvin Jabido, NY Committee for Human Rights in the
Philippines, email: nychrp@gmail.com
IS GLORIA THE NEW IMELDA?
Filipinos in New York Respond to Arroyo's "Simple" Meals
Despite the claims of the Arroyo administration, there are certainly
simple, inexpensive culinary pleasures to be had in New York City. While
the Big Apple is certainly home to Wall Street power lunches, Tavern On
The Green, and the Russian Tea Room, it is also home to the $1 pizza
slice, the $1.25 hot dog from the street vendor, and the $4 over rice
plate in Chinatown.
And with New York unemployment reaching a record high of 400,000 in 2008
due to the economic crisis, these cheap eats are becoming everyday fare
for more and more New Yorkers.
In fact, New Yorkers would be the first to rebuke Philippine Presidential
Press Secretary Cerge Remonde's claims that the recent New York City
dinner of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her travel entourage was a "simple"
dinner, or the line that such expensive rates are "standard" in New York
City.
There was nothing "simple" about Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's
entourage drawing up a $20,000 tab for two tables at the ritzy Le Cirque
Restaurant in Manhattan. Surely such a feast for the 65 Philippine
bureaucrats who literally wined and dined to their hearts content could
have easily fed several small villages in the Philippines itself. What
blows our minds even more is the recent news that the infamous $20k
extravaganza was preceded by a similar $15k fete in Washington DC, where
Arroyo and her entourage dined at Bobby Van's Steakhouse after her state
visit with President Barack Obama.
As Filipinos in New York, this degree of extravagance from a Philippine
Head of State is both vulgar and, unfortunately, familiar. Before the fall
of the Marcos dictatorship in 1986, former First Lady Imelda Marcos was
known for closing entire floors in Saks Fifth Avenue for her
million-dollar shopping sprees. In 1982, Imelda arrived in New York to
shop with 40 assistants and 300 suitcases. The previous year, Imelda
purchased a Park Avenue apartment and its contents for a lump sum of $9.5
million. According to People Magazine, the then-First Lady even imported
workers from the Philippines to help in refurbishing rooms in the
Manhattan properties she bought. At it's height, the Marcos family had
purchased billions worth in New York City real estate, including the $51
million Crown Building and the $60 million Herald Center. Ironically,
Imelda declined on purchasing the Empire State Building at $750 million,
claiming it was "too ostentatious".
But while the rest of the
world was agasp and Filipinos vowed never again to such bawdy displays of
lavishness, Arroyo's latest spending spree on her so-called "simple" meals
indicate she may have been taking notes from the so-called Steel Butterfly
all along.
Conversely, a 2008 survey in the Philippines conducted by Gallup
International revealed that four out of every ten Filipinos reported
having little or no food at all on their tables in the last 12 months. At
90 million, the Philippines has one of the highest population growth rates
in Asia. The Arroyo government's failure to resolve increasing food
insecurity in the country leaves hunger and malnourishment a reality for
the majority of families in the Philippines.The most acute pangs of hunger
remain in the densely-populated urban slum communities of Metro Manila,
where just stone's throw away from Arroyo's residence, at least half a
million families lack food.
Such excessive spending on
food in the face of extreme hunger cannot be tolerated. Arroyo and friends
have some serious explaining to do to the millions of poor Filipinos,
including our families, whom we strive to support with our hard-earned
remittances.
If $20k for dinner is "simple", then how much would "decent", "normal",
and "fancy" cost, by Arroyo standards? And if the Marcoses still have the
gall to this day to swear by their dead patriarch's glass coffin that they
did not spend billions in Philippine public funds for their own whims,
even amidst credible evidence indicating gross graft and corruption on
their part, aren't Arroyo, Remonde, et al playing the same tune when it
comes to their arrogantly unapologetic stand on these dinner tabs? Does
one need to be a communist to put two and two together, or is this a case
of plain common sense?
In fact, an examination of Arroyo's penchant for lavish spending of public
funds during foreign trips coupled with her propensity for political
repression and human rights violations of her own countrymen, may make her
the star combination of both Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos' worst traits--
all wrapped up in a tiny 4'11" moled package.
Is Gloria the New Imelda in terms of spending? With her "simple" dinner
costing tens of thousands in US dollars, the answer doesn't look too
bright for us mere $1.25 hot dog eaters. But then again, do we really want
her to stick around in office long enough to find out?
Let us take our cue from Philippine history. In 1983, the death of one
Aquino, who's star shone brightly against the darkness of tyranny and
corruption, contributed to fast tracking an ongoing people's movement that
toppled a dictatorship marked by repression, corruption and obscene
lavishness. Today, in 2009, with the Arroyo administration embodying these
same traits, shouldn't the death of another Aquino, who perhaps shined
even brighter, do the same?
--
New York Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines
www.nychrp.org
email: nychrp@gmail.com
xAugust 10, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
‘Palace keeps dishing out hypocrisy’
1M spent for dinner could've gone to educ sector-solon
After Malacañang officials defended the $20,000 Manhattan dinner, Kabataan
Party-list Representative Raymond “Mong” Palatino today said that
President Arroyo should still explain why she, together with legislators
and Cabinet officials, managed to dine at a lavish French restaurant amid
the economic crisis.
“Regardless of who footed the bill, Arroyo and other officials displayed
crassness and insensitivity when they wined and dined at an expensive
restaurant. This is the voice of millions of hungry Filipinos. This is not
an ‘agitation propaganda,’” Palatino said, referring to an earlier
statement by Press Secretary Cerge Remonde.
Palatino said, “Denial is not just a river in Egypt. Remonde keeps on
dishing out hypocritical statements when he said that the report was
‘grossly exaggerated.’ It is no exaggeration when people get mad at Arroyo
for her lavish lifestyle especially when the President herself underscored
the need for thriftiness in consonance with the economic difficulties.”
In a newspaper report, Arroyo said that the government should “set the
tone for sacrifice” amid rising fares and prices.
Palatino said, “Whether Arroyo used taxpayer’s money or not for that
dinner, it is unnerving how she managed to fine-dine at an expensive
restaurant while millions of Filipinos could barely eat three times a day.
While Arroyo and her cohorts were served with wines and caviars, her
people had tuyo and asin for dinner,” Palatino said.
According to a study by the Asian Development Bank, 25.4 million Filipinos
live below $1.35 a day. Meanwhile, some four out of 10 Filipinos often
experienced hunger during the last quarter of 2008.
Palatino also said that the amount could have been used for the education
sector especially that Arroyo announced that her last year in office would
focus on education.
“The sight of students squatting on dirty floors in makeshift classrooms
and sharing ratty textbooks is commonplace, nearly half of students go to
schools that have no libraries, and not surprisingly, the quality of
public education has miserably suffered. Indeed, from the year 2001 to
2009, not only has the country’s education system not modernized, it has
remained as backward as it has ever been,” Palatino said.
--
Office of Rep. Raymond ‘Mong’ Palatino
Temporary Office c/o Office of Rep. Lisa Maza
Room 309, South Wing, House of Representatives, Batasan Complex, Quezon
City
Reference:
Kabataan Party-list Rep. Mong Palatino
Mobile: 09085927099
Email: cong.mongpalatino@gmail.com
JM Ragaza, Media Officer, 09166947806
AUGUST 9, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
After lavish Manhattan dinner
Arroyo cannot wash her hands clean of reckless spending-solon
Kabataan Party-list Representative Raymond “Mong” Palatino today said that
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo cannot wash her hands clean of the
controversial dinner at a lavish Manhattan resturant.
“Paalala ng ating mga magulang: Maghugas ng kamay pagkatapos kumain.
Ngunit hindi magagawang hugasan ni Arroyo ang kanyang kamay sa pagwaldas
ng pera sa isang handaang nagkakahalaga ng halos isang milyong piso.”
Palatino said.
Palatino said, “Whether Arroyo used taxpayer’s money or not for that
dinner, it is unnerving how she managed to fine-dine at an expensive
resturant while millions of Filipinos could barely eat three times a day.
While Arroyo and her cohorts were served with wines and caviars, her
people had tuyo and asin for dinner,” Palatino said.
According to a study by the Asian Development Bank, 25.4 million Filipinos
live below $1.35 a day. Meanwhile, some four out of 10 Filipinos often
experienced hunger during the last quarter of 2008.
“Clearly, such crassness from our President reflects her
administration—while the people are living in abject poverty, our
gluttonous leaders only have themselves to think about,” Palatino said.
“Just imagine how many Filipinos could be fed with that amount. Or, the
money could have been used to provide schools with computers, books and
other equipment. During these times of economic turmoil why is a Third
World President living a lavish lifestyle?,” Palatino said.
--
Office of Rep. Raymond ‘Mong’ Palatino
Temporary Office c/o Office of Rep. Lisa Maza
Room 309, South Wing, House of Representatives, Batasan Complex, Quezon
City
Reference:
Kabataan Party-list Rep. Mong Palatino
Mobile: 09085927099
Email: cong.mongpalatino@gmail.com
JM Ragaza, Media Officer, 09166947806
Members of Kabataan Partylist trooped to cafeterias and 'karinderyas' in
University Belt in Manila today to express their disgust over the
controversial P1M dinner Arroyo and her family took at a lavish restaurant
in the US. They distributed and posted copies of the dinner menu costing
almost $20,000 and held placards saying "Di namin masikmura!" and "Mahiya
naman kayo!"
According to Vencer Crisostomo, Kabataan Partylist Secretary-General, the
Arroyo family's reckless spending amidst the poverty ang hunger
experienced by majority Filipinos is "an insult deserving of the youth and
people's outrage".
"They are shameless. A million pesos for a dinner party is simply too much
greed and gluttony for the people to forgive and let pass," said
Crisostomo.
He said they will put up copies of the million-peso dinner tab in
cafeterias, canteens, and karinderyas all over the country "so that
everytime the students and working people order their tipid lunch, they
will remember the 'kawalanghiyaan' of the corrupt first family." #
PRESS RELEASE
Information Bureau
Communist Party of the Philippines
CPP shares people's disgust at Arroyo's lavish feast August 9, 2009
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) expressed today the utter
disgust it shares with the Filipino people upon learning of the lavish
$20,000 (equivalent to 1 million in Philippine pesos) banquet that Gloria
and Mike Arroyo and their junketing clique indulged themselves in at a
plush New York restaurant last August 5 at the expense of the impoverished
and hungry mass of their countrymen.
The CPP said "Not only the Filipino people but even Americans and other
people around the world have been shocked at such scandalous display of
ostentation, be it in celebration of the First Couple's wedding
anniversary and the puppet Arroyo's finally getting an audience with her
new imperialist master, or simply because they wanted to splurge and throw
away the people's money, feeling like monarchs with the people at their
feet."
"Such gross extravagance and insensitivity of the Philippines' Marie
Antoinette and her cohorts in the midst of a grave economic crisis and
widespread poverty and hunger constitute a vicious act of violence against
the people and only serves to fuel the people's revolt against her greedy,
rotten, abusive and oppressive rule," the CPP said further.
NEWS RELEASE
14 August 2009
For Reference:
REP. LUZ C. ILAGAN 0920-9213221
Abby Valenzuela (Public Information Officer) 0915-7639619
GABRIELA SOLON SLAMS GMA FOR “PICKING” ON THE MEDIA OVER DINNER MESS
Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Luz Ilagan on Friday slammed the Arroyo
government for brazenly “picking” on the media in an attempt to save
itself from the million-peso- dinner controversy it is mired in.
“The Arroyo government has found a convenient, albeit obviously desperate,
escape route by accusing the media of being hypocrites. It is a case of
killing the messenger ,” Ilagan said.
“They’ve been caught and are now facing a dead-end,” Ilagan added. “Mrs.
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her allies have tried every twist and turn but
failed to get themselves out of the ditch they themselves dug.”
Ilagan said that no feeble excuse such as claiming that the presidential
entourage were merely guests of a rich businessman or accusing the media
of pretending to be innocent of similar acts could save Mrs. Arroyo from
another scandal.
“Any
way you look at it, what she (Mrs. Arroyo) did was immoral . No president
of a country who sincerely empathizes with her people would selfishly dine
out in an expensive restaurant offering food and drinks with prices that
could buy poor families complete meals for a day, especially at this time
of economic crisis.”
While
deeply angered, the Gabriela solon said she was not surprised by this
latest bullying from the Arroyo government.
“It has been a practice of the Arroyo government to point fingers every
time it gets caught in a lie or placed in a tight situation, with the
media as a convenient scape goat.”
Ilagan recalled the various forms of harassment the members of the media
have suffered in the hands of Mrs. Arroyo, the First Gentleman and friends
– libel charges, intimidation, physical, emotional and economic threats,
among others – “ to intimidate the members of the Fourth Estate who are
only doing their job or to divert the public's attention from the latest
knot in a long string of controversies the Arroyo government is notorius
for."
“Let us not forget that it is during this regime that the number of
journalists killed in the country reached proportions that rival that of
the Marcos dictatorship, making the Philippines the most dangerous place
in which to become a journalist, next only to Iraq,” Ilagan said.
May kasaysayan
ng luho ang Pangulo, na biglang yaman simula nang maupo sa puwesto.
Kinukuwenta na rin ng iba't ibang grupo ang dapat sanang pinaggastusan sa
halip na isang mamahaling hapunan sa New York.
