Makabayan solons question BBM’s ‘lavish’ Davos trip, seek probe

Representatives Arlene Brosas (Gabriela), France Castro (ACT Teachers), and Raoul Manuel during State of the Nation Address. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Makabayan bloc is exploring a call for an investigation into President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s “lavish business trip” to the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, with a sizable Philippine delegation.

On Thursday, Rep. France Castro of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers said that their group is considering filing a resolution to probe the trip’s particulars, including who paid for Marcos’ delegation’s travel expenses.

“Titingnan pa natin, baka pag-isipan namin na mag-ano ng inquiry kaugnay niyan…kasi ang laki-laki naman nitong 70 [katao] parang nakakahiya sa iba’t ibang mga delegate doon sa Davos na mayroon lang mga less than 10 iyong delegates nila, tayo 70. Anong ginawa nitong iba na ito?” she said at a Makabayan bloc news conference.

(We’re still looking into it. We might call for an inquiry related to this…because 70 people are too big. It’s embarrassing to the other delegates in Davos who have less than 10 but for us, we have 70. What are they doing there?)

But Castro clarified that they have yet to decide whether to pursue this probe.

“Pag-uusapan pa namin kasi tingin namin, lavish ito. Very lavish na expenses, na business trip ng ating Pangulo (We’ll still talk about this but we believe this is lavish. Very lavish expenses and the business trip of our President),” she pointed out.

Castro said it is worth questioning who funded the Philippine delegation’s Davos trip – from transportation and hotel accommodation to other related expenses, noting that some of their spouses, relatives and associates were also seen in some photos at the WEF.

“Kailangan busisiin natin iyong expense dito sa trip na ito [We need to scrutinize the expenses during this trip],” she stressed.

Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas, for her part, said the Makabayan bloc is calling for the Marcos administration to be transparent about the details of the Davos trip.

“Balita nga natin, may mga artista, may mga entertainer pang kasama at saka maraming questions kaugnay dito sa Davos trip kasi parang sa atin ata iyong isa sa pinakamalaki, samantalang iyong sa iba ay dose lang, tatlo ang delegation ng kanilang mga bansa. Sa atin, napakalaki,” she said.

(We heard some celebrities and entertainers join the trip, and there are also a lot of questions related to the Davos trip because our delegation is seemingly among the largest. Other countries had 12 or three people, but ours was so big.)

Brosas then echoed the still-unanswered question that hounds Marcos and his delegation’s trip to the upscale town: Who paid for it?

“Kung out of the pockets of the Filipino people iyan at galing sa taxes natin iyan, hindi po iyong katanggap-tanggap para sa atin [If that’s out of the pockets of the Filipino people and it was from our taxes, that will not be acceptable for us],” she said.

Aside from First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and key members of the Cabinet, Marcos was also joined by seven business tycoons for the annual Davos meet.

Marcos’ trip to Switzerland is his eighth foreign trip since he assumed office on June 30, last year.

He is the only leader from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and one of the only two leaders from Asia who attended the WEF.

After his trip to Switzerland, Marcos will fly to Japan in mid-February upon the invitation of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. — with reports from Niña Cuasay, INQUIRER.net trainee

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JPV/abc