MANILA, Philippines?Guess who came to another expensive Stateside dinner?
After a New York newspaper reported earlier that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo?s party wined and dined at the cost of $20,000 (about P1 million) at Le Cirque Restaurant in the Big Apple early this month, another US publication has come out with a story on yet another dinner for the presidential entourage in a Washington restaurant, this time costing $15,000.
According to the article ?Heartburn Over Two Big Meals? attributed to The Washington Post?s ?The Reliable Source,? Ms Arroyo?s party of 65 dined at the Bobby Van?s Steakhouse on 15th Street NW hours after her meeting with US President Barack Obama at the White House on July 30.
The Washington Post was the second paper to carry an item about an expensive dinner held by Ms Arroyo?s party in the US.
?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,? added the article posted on the Washington Post?s gossip column and blog site yesterday.
It said: ?Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo?s visit to the White House on July 30 didn?t draw much attention, and her dinner in Washington that night got nary a mention. And that?s how it might have stayed?if not for a controversial meal in New York City.
?Arroyo is under fire in her native country for a $20,000 meal at Manhattan?s Le Cirque on Aug. 2, which included caviar and several bottles of champagne. The dinner, first reported in the New York Post, has Arroyo?s critics comparing her to the extravagant Imelda Marcos.?
Meanwhile, Ms Arroyo again landed in the New York Post in a follow-up story on the $20,000 dinner at the chic Le Cirque, one of the top 40 restaurants in the United States.
?Our little scoop about the $20,000 dinner Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo enjoyed last month at Le Cirque has blown up into a political firestorm in her homeland, where memories of Imelda Marcos? shoe collection are still fresh,? said the short item dated Aug. 11.
The New York Post also quoted Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay as saying the dinner for 25 people could have fed ?almost 3,000 hungry families with three square meals.?
The actual tab of Ms Arroyo?s entourage has yet to be revealed.
Malacañang has said the meal was just a ?simple dinner? and that no public funds were spent. Press Secretary Cerge Remonde also blamed the media for playing up the controversy.
Akbayan partylist Representatives Walden Bello and Riza Hontiveros have asked the Ombudsman to investigate whether public funds were used to pay for the dinner, and whether the President or her entourage violated ethical standards for government officials.
Assuming that no public funds were used, the two lawmakers added that further investigation should be conducted on the ?treat? for the President and determine whether this would fall under ?indirect bribery? under the Revised Penal Code, or Presidential Decree No. 46 penalizing public officials from receiving gifts. PD 46, Bello said, also prohibits the holding of parties in honor of an official or his or her immediate relatives.
Hontiveros also warned that if Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez would not act on their letter-complaint, they could add this to the offenses against Gutierrez in an impeachment case filed against her in March.
Romulo Macalintal, lawyer of the President, also took the media to task for reporting on the story.
