MANILA, Philippines – Evangelist Brother Eddie Villanueva on Sunday branded as insensitive, even “disgusting," the alleged P960,000 dinner that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her party shared in New York before returning to the country last week.

“We cannot keep quiet on this excessive spending while an estimated 3.7 million Filipino families are hungry,” said Villanueva, leader of the good governance group Bagong Pilipinas, Bagong Pilipino (New Philippines, New Filipino) movement.

“It was of utmost insensitivity to her people back home. Simply disgusting,” he added.

The New York Post reported that Arroyo and her entourage had dinner at New York’s Le Cirque where the bill reportedly went up to US$20,000 or P960,000.

“We remember that on the day she faced the nation to deliver her State of the Nation Address on July 27, the Social Weather Stations released its survey saying that there are 3.7 million families experiencing involuntary hunger,” Villanueva said.

Malacañang said Leyte Representative Ferdinand Martin Romuladez paid the bill.

“Granting that she did not spend for the dinner, as claimed by Malacañang, Mrs. Arroyo should have been sensitive enough to think about the hungry Filipinos back in the country that she supposedly leads,” Villanueva said.