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P6.5 billion for travels

MR. EXPOSE

Amb. Ernesto Maceda

07/02/2009

Deputy presidential spokesman Lorelei Fajardo said in a presscon that the amount critics are floating as having spent by the President for her 54 travels in eight years is bloated. She said it is below P2 billion. Sen. Chiz Escudero had used a figure of more than P3 billion. Earlier, we estimated it at P4 billion. Either she is completely wrong or is lying.

Well, here are the official figures from DBM submissions to the Senate. From 2001 to the present, actual releases of funds for travel to the Office of the President and the Office of the Press Secretary totaled more than P6.5 billion. The amount of P3.576 billion came from the regular appropriation. The amount of P3.074 billion was released from the contingent fund from 2001 to 2007. It could be more because the Office of the President has a P600 million intelligence fund and about P2 billion from the Pagcor social fund. And the 2008-2009 release from the contingent fund is not yet available.

To compare, in 1999, President Estrada and the Office of the Press Secretary got a regular release of P169 million for travel. Compare that to GMA and her Press Secretary getting a regular release of P785 million in 2007.

With an entourage of over 100, including 20 to 55 congressmen and their wives, it is not surprising that the expense is big.

At a time when the country is projecting a deficit that could reach P330 billion, the P6.5 billion spent for the President’s travel is totally insensitive and amounts to an inappropriate abuse of use of public funds.

Malacañang must now publicly account for the expenses incurred for every trip. Begin with the last trip from Manila-Tokyo-Los Angeles-Colombia-Brazil-Rio de Janeiro-Los Angeles-Hong Kong-Manila which was announced as an eight-day trip but was extended to 13 days.

Note that DepEd is pleading for more funds to solve the classroom shortage. Note that DoH has run out of funds to buy medicine for A(H1N1) victims. Note that Malacañang released only P5 million for the PNP’s drive against loose firearms. Note that the school buildings damaged in Western Pangasinan by Typhoon “Etong” are still unrepaired.

Stop, stop pretty please, Mrs. President. Stop these expensive trips. Stay home and do your job.

Flying. Rumors are flying that Total Information Management (TIM) withdrew from the joint venture contract with Smartmatic because it had serious doubts about Smartmatic’s ability to deliver a fraud-free automated election. It decided to withdraw to avoid being blamed for any election snafu.

Sen. Dick Gordon is correct to look into this matter. It is very unusual for TIM to give up a lucrative contract it pushed very hard to win.

PPCRV must also try to determine the veracity of TIM’s doubts. Comelec has no business trying to mediate between Smartmatic and TIM. That’s a purely private matter between two big business groups.

Significantly, Malacañang and Lakas-Kampi-CMD have not expressed any indignation on the TIM withdrawal. It appears that Malacañang is happy with a return to the manual system of voting and counting.

Bad record. Agriculture growth for the 2nd quarter of 2009 slowed down to 1.5 percent from 5.4 percent last year.

As usual, DA Secretary Arthur Yap blames the weather. That’s an annual reality. Did Secretary Yap not factor that in their planning?

Housewives are complaining that the price of chicken this week has gone up from P110 to 120 per kilo to P140. Something wrong here. Part of the problem: If Secretary Yap is not travelling with GMA abroad, he is in Bohol campaigning for Congress...

Definitely, with only one year to go, GMA will not achieve self-sufficiency in rice. Certainly, a major failure.

Tidbits. Dr. Hayden Kho admitted to Karen Davila of ABS-CBN that there are 11 sex videos of his relations with four women. Earlier reports said there are 40 videos. TV actress Dr. Maricar Reyes is back in the country and has been given a new role in a new drama series.

Immigration agent Dwayne Douglas Lim who belongs to the family owning 555 sardines was shot dead in Quezon City... School bus service owner Joel Lumabang was also shot dead in Katipunan Ave., QC... TV host Pia Hontiveros said she almost fell off her chair when Malacañang spokesperson said in an interview that “there are two versions of the truth.”... Marichu Villanueva, associate editor of the Philippine Star, said on “Strictly Politics” that because the President is taking too many trips, media organizations can no longer afford to send a representative for every trip... Democrat Al Franken of Minnesota has been declared winner by the Minnesota Supreme Court, giving the democrats a majority of the US Senate... A mayor of Ilocos Sur reported that Chavit Singson is now campaigning for Manny Villar... Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog of Ozamiz City is inclined to go for Villar, too... Personable Tangub City Mayor Jennifer Tan is running for Congress in the 1st district of Misamis Occidental... President Erap, accompanied by Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, is set to visit Misamis Occidental and Zamboanga del Sur tomorrow, Friday. With a new PAL flight to Ozamiz, it is now convenient to visit there. On July 6, he will be the guest speaker at a symposium at San Sebastian College in Manila. PPCRV is sponsoring a debate on July 16 at Plaza Miranda with six presidentiables agreeing to attend according to Tita de Villa... Congratulations to Mayor Dan Lim on the occasion of the 43rd anniversary of Tagbilaran City. AIM has proclaimed Tagbilaran as one of the Philippines top 20 most competitive cities... Aljazeera TV has featured the NPA in two segments Tuesday and Wednesday. It reported that NPA sponsors medical missions in remote villages. Aljazeera estimates NPA strength at 12,000 armed rebels while the government claims it has brought it down to 5,000.