Filtered By: Topstories
News

Solon: I paid for Arroyo party's Wash. dinner


Quezon Representative Danilo Suarez on Thursday admitted that he was the one who paid for the dinner that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her entourage enjoyed in a Washington restaurant last month. "I invited the President, the First Gentleman and the whole group to have dinner at Morton's, but Morton's was not available so we shifted to Bobby Van's," Suarez said in a report by Lei Alviz aired over GMA News’ “Saksi." The dinner was reported by the Washington Post blog, which said Mrs. Arroyo and her party spent $15,000 for the meal. Suarez confirmed the amount, saying $11,000 was spent on food, beverages, and wines, while the rest was spent on tax charges and tips. He added that the dinner was part of the celebration of the Arroyo couple's 41st wedding anniversary. This however contradicted with his statement when he was first interviewed by GMANews.TV regarding the dinner. In that interview, Suarez said he doubts the tab would reach $15,000. The report on the Washington dinner came at the height of the controversy on Mrs. Arroyo and her party’s meal in a posh New York restaurant that reportedly cost $20,000, which Malacañang said was shouldered by Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Romualdez. The dinner had led to calls for the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate the alleged “extravagance" of Mrs. Arroyo. Suarez lashed back at the critics for scoring the President for spending almost P2 million in two separate dinners in the US while the country is experiencing widespread poverty. "Wala namang relevance 'yung paghihirap ng taumbayan (The dinners were irrelevant to our country’s poverty)," Suarez said, adding that the focus should be on the benefits that country gained during the US visit. - GMANews.TV

LOADING CONTENT