Arroyo foreign trips since start of 2008 global financial crisis

MANILA, Philippines - President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo made at least 12 foreign trips when the financial crisis swept the world during the last quarter of 2008. Data culled by GMANews.TV showed that four of these trips were to Middle Eastern nations while two were to the United States. The United Opposition [UNO] claims that Mrs. Arroyo might be frequenting Dubai and the US to protect her personal finances. The First Family purportedly lost some $500 million in investments from several collapsed financial firms in the US. The President arrived from Dubai on Tuesday, April 14, but the UNO said Mrs. Arroyo might have clandestinely visited the Middle Eastern financial hub on January 31, 2009. Malacañang claimed Mrs. Arroyo’s last trip to Dubai was from January 27 to 28, 2008 before proceeding to Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum that year.

April 10-14 2009: Dubai, UAE — Philippine government sponsored job summit for Filipinos April 10, 2009: Thailand — 14th Asean Summit Feb. 5-6, 2009: Washington DC, USA — National Prayer Breakfast Feb. 3-4, 2009: Manama, Bahrain — Meeting with King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa and Prime Minister Khalifa bin Sulman Al Khalifa Feb. 2-3, 2009: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — Meeting with Filipino communities Feb. 1-2, 2009: Milan. Italy — Meeting with Filipino communities Jan. 31 to Feb. 1, 2009: Davos, Switzerland — World Economic Forum Dec. 13-15, 2008: Qatar — Meeting with Qatar leaders Dec. 2-3, 2008: Hong Kong, China — Clinton Global Initiative Nov. 22-23, 2008: Lima, Peru — 16th APEC Leaders Summit Nov. 10-14, 2008: New York and Chicago, USA — 63rd UN General Assembly Oct. 23-27, 2008: China — 7th Asia-Europe Meeting

- Sophia Dedace, GMANews.TV