‘Stupid’ girl: Joker called to say sorry for ‘birthday gift’
By Michael Lim Ubac
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:50:00 07/23/2008
MANILA, Philippines—It was a birthday gift she could live without.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo was referring to Sen. Joker Arroyo’s remarks the other day denouncing her statement that Cabinet officials would not think twice about invoking executive privilege if the Senate reopened its inquiry into the $500-million North Luzon Railways (NorthRail) project.
“It’s really stupid ... These people just talk and talk without knowing what they are talking about,” Arroyo said in a story carried by the Philippine Daily Inquirer Tuesday—Fajardo’s birthday.
“Ang gandang pa-birthday naman ni Senator Joker (What a lovely birthday gift from Senator Joker). Front page in the Inquirer,” Fajardo said. “My statement was taken out of context.”
She said she and the senator had already kissed and made up.
“He called me up (early Tuesday) ... he apologized personally, and I accepted the apology,” she added.
Fajardo was reached by phone while she was traveling with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in Datu Odin Sinsuat in Shariff Kabunsuan province, where the Chief Executive inspected government projects and presided over a Cabinet meeting.
Fajardo is a former mayor of Palayan City in Nueva Ecija province and concurrently presidential assistant for Central Luzon.
Senator Arroyo earlier said that presidential advisers should talk sparingly about executive privilege and that “only the President should invoke this and not her officials. It cheapens this power.”
“No wonder the President is getting such a bad reputation because of the people around her,” he had said.
‘We are not gloating’
Fajardo clarified that she was not jumping the gun on the President or on Congress.
“With due respect to the good senator, my statement may have been taken out of context. We are not gloating over the Supreme Court ruling relative to the issue of executive privilege,” she said.
Fajardo was referring to two recent Supreme Court decisions which upheld the confidentiality of negotiations involving the scuttled $329-million National Broadband Network deal with China’s ZTE Corp. and the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement.
President’s sole prerogative
“We said it is the right of the Senate to conduct or reopen investigation on the NorthRail project,” Fajardo said.
“We emphasized that public records are for public consumption. It is not our call to invoke executive privilege, this is the sole prerogative of the President,” she added.
“While I take (exception) to the quoted statement of the senator, I wish to emphasize that my respect remains high for a learned and respected legal luminary like the senator.”
Decongesting Metro Manila
Fajardo said that Arroyo “may have been misquoted,” as well.
“I have spoken to the good senator and we have threshed out the matter. I only have the highest respect for the good senator,” she said.
Fajardo also clarified that her job as the presidential assistant for Central Luzon did not include supervision over the NorthRail project.
Work suspended
The project has been awarded to a Chinese contractor, who has suspended civil works pending the Philippines’ approval of an additional $299-million funding, on top of a $400-million funding from China and a $103-million counterpart funding from the Philippine government.
Phase 1 of the project, which is intended to link Metro Manila to Central Luzon by rail, runs between Caloocan and Malolos in Bulacan, a distance of 32.2 kilometers.
The entire project aims to speed up the transport of passengers and goods between Metro Manila, Central and Northern Luzon. It is also envisaged to decongest Metro Manila by encouraging urban development in the north.
Decide to continue or not
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. has said the government should decide soon whether it is in the country’s best interest to continue the project, with the additional costs, or just simply scrap it. With reports from Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon, and PDI Research
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