MANILA, Philippines?No less than 100 congressmen?or nearly 40 percent of the total membership of the House of Representatives?are jostling for slots in President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo?s entourage in her July 30 meeting with US President Barack Obama in Washington.

Some of them had earlier signed up for Ms Arroyo?s trip to Egypt but later canceled their bookings?apparently preferring the White House over the pyramids. The President left for Egypt yesterday.

A source at the House office, which processes the lawmakers? travel papers, yesterday said it had been swamped with requests since Malacañang on Sunday announced the Arroyo-Obama meeting.

The requests were still subject to approval, the source explained, doubting whether all of them would be granted.

In February, the last time the President went to the United States and failed?for the third time?to have an audience with Obama, about 20 congressmen accompanied her to Washington.

Double the Vegas junket

The estimated 100 congressmen seeking to travel with the President are double the number of lawmakers who flew to Las Vegas in May?while Congress was in session?to watch the championship fight between Filipino boxing star Manny Pacquiao and Britain?s Ricky Hatton.

The President is again leaving for the US capital shortly after delivering her last State of the Nation Address (SONA) before Congress on July 27.

Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez yesterday said he was still weighing whether to join the trip considering that Congress has just resumed session by then after a two-month break.

?I still have a lot of paperwork to finish. I might not join the trip,? Suarez said.

Anakpawis Rep. Joel Maglunsod warned fellow House members joining the US trip against spending public funds for the tour.

?They?ve had too many foreign trips and already spent millions in taxpayer money. It?s a shame that they are jetsetting at the expense of their poor constituents,? Maglunsod said in a statement.

51 presidential trips

Lawmakers on official business trips abroad receive funding for their travel and hotel accommodations, plus allowances, from the House?s P5-billion budget.

Ms Arroyo has taken 51 foreign trips since assuming office in 2001, all costing an estimated P3 billion.

Meanwhile, a senator surmised that Obama?s decision to meet with Ms Arroyo means that her allies? perceived efforts to keep her in power through Charter change (Cha-cha) are over and that the country will have elections next year.

?This is because I don?t see the (leader of the) US government, which fosters freedom and democracy across the world, agreeing to meet with a President if they have not cleared up the issue that there will be no more Cha-cha or any attempt to subvert our Constitution,? Sen. Mar Roxas told reporters yesterday.

So, this is a good sign,? said Roxas, considered among the front-runners in the 2010 presidential race. ?(It?s) a sign that the elections will proceed and Cha-cha is no more.?

Wary of drug lobby

Roxas also urged President Arroyo not to give in should Obama lobby on behalf of giant pharmaceutical firms that would be affected by the country?s cheaper medicines law.

?The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most powerful and wealthy lobbies in the US,? Roxas said. ?If this is brought up during the meeting, we should not sacrifice at the altar of good (RP-US) relations, the altar of photo-ops, the healthcare of our countrymen.?

Roxas warned that the drug firms? lobby might be raised at the White House meeting as a ?quid pro quo.?

?A meeting between Presidents usually tackles a lot of issues like security, financial integration, trade, movement of persons across regions, agricultural help ? but this (issue of cheaper medicines) could also be brought up,? he noted. With a report from Philip C. Tubeza