President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's expenses for her foreign trips since 2003 went beyond the allotted budget by around P1.6 billion, the lawmaker son of former Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr. said Friday. Bukidnon Rep. Teofisto Guingona III said he obtained records from the Commission on Audit showing President Arroyo and her delegation had spent some P2.7 billion from 2003 to 2007, when the budget for the period was supposed to have only been P1.1 billion. "Iyong ibang bagay na 'pag labag sa batas puwede mong i-explain pero ito numero lang. Ang question lang sumobra ka ba sa naka-budget pag sumobra lagot ka sa batas. Eh sumobra eh," Guingona said in a radio interview. He said the COA report was dated August 12 this year. But data culled by GMA News Research from a number of COA annual reports showed that the Office of the President had only spent P1,447,801,922.52 from 2002 to 2007. GMANews.TV called up Guingona several times to elaborate on his claims and explain the discrepancy but the calls went unanswered. In the radio interview, the lawmaker said that in 2008 alone, the President's entourage had spent P722 million for their trips abroad when the budget for them was only P244 million.
According to Guingona, the Palace was able to compensate for the remaining expenses beyond the budget by getting money from the national contingency fund, which is supposedly used in cases of national emergencies. He said that under the law, the Office of the President can use the contingency fund when the President's travel expenses go overboard. Guingona also cited the COA report as showing that Mrs. Arroyo had also spent P120 million beyond the P800 million contingency fund for 2008. COA figures gathered by GMA News Research also showed that from 2002's P80.62 million, foreign travel expenses incurred by the Office of the President grew by 635 percent. The report showed that P588.49 million were spent for trips abroad - around 458 million more than in 2002. (See table below)
Office of the President Foreign Travel Expenses Source: COA Annual Audit Reports – Office of the President YEAR | FOREIGN TRAVEL EXPENSES (FTE) | TOTAL EXPENSES (TE) | PERCENTAGE OF FTE TO TE |
2007 | P 588,495,232.26 | P 2,673,031,416.54 | 22.02% |
2006 | P 398,447,583.30 | P 2,360,211,050.53 | 16.88% |
2005 | P 154,383,308.01 | P 2,547,239,222.75 | 6.06% |
2004 | P 115,980,557.42 | P 2,001,409,897.55 | 5.79% |
2003 | P 109,870,203.33 | P 1,635,610,383.66 | 6.72% |
2002 | P 80,625,108.20 | P 2,369,349,710.86 | 3.40% |
TOTAL | P 1,447,801,992.52 | P 13,586,851,681.89 | |
Speaker Prospero Nograles, an ally of Mrs. Arroyo and frequent companion in her foreign trips, said the COA report was "speculative." "We will see that when they present their budget (for the) Office of the President. Then, that’s the time to ask the question but right now that’s speculative because
wala pang (there's no) budget hearing," Nograles said in an ambush interview in Malacañang.
NO OVERSPENDING Malacañang on Friday belied claims that the Palace overspent on foreign visits during her term. And even if she did, there is a mechanism devised to provide additional fund sources. "Based on Department of Budget Management (DBM) advisory, the President did not exceed the amount for local and/or foreign visits," Presidential Spokesperson for Economic Matters Gary Olivar said. Bukidnon Rep. Teofisto Guingona III earlier cited a Commission on Audit report dated August 12 showing that from 2003 to 2007, Mrs. Arroyo and her delegation had spent P2.7 billion for trips abroad. But the allocated budget for such trips are supposed to amount only to P1.1 billion. Guingona said in 2008, the Office of the President (OP) had shelled out P478 million more than it was supposed to have used based on its P244-million budget. The lawmaker claimed the additional money spent was sourced from contingent funds. Olivar, likewise, denied these claims. "For 2008, amount for visits under 2008 budget is P244.6M. The actual amount obligated by the OP is P233.8M. In a similar vein no releases made by DBM in 2008 under the contingent fund," Olivar said. But granting the OP had gone beyond the annual budget, Olivar said that Section 62 of the General Appropriations Act of 2008 allows the office to get additional funds from its savings among other sources, or what is termed as "budget felxibility." He cited the section as stating that "agencies may augment any items within MOOE (Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses), except confidential and intelligence funds, from savings and other items of MOOE without prior DBM approval." Nograles also dismissed criticisms that Mrs. Arroyo enjoyed a good life during her foreign trips. He said the President's schedules were so stiff that she was even forced to work inside the plane. "The problem is people do not want to listen to their explanation. They want to listen to the explanation of those
na di naman kasama sa (who are not with us in the) trip," he said. The Arroyo administration is being criticized over the reported $20,000-dinner of the President's party at Le Cirque in New York last week. Palace officials have since pointed to Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez as the one who footed the bill. [See:
Arroyo dined lavishly in US before attending Cory's wake] Soon after the controversy broke out, the Washington Post reported that the President and her entourage had dined at Bobby Van's Steakhouse in Washington DC hours after she met with US President Barack Obama. [See:
Before NY, Arroyo entourage dined in Washington for $15K] Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez, another administration stalwart, said he footed the $15,000 bill at the steakhouse held supposedly in celebration of the President and her husband Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo's 41st wedding anniversary. [See:
Solon: I paid for Arroyo party's Wash. dinner] Meanwhile, Bayan Muna Rep. Teodoro Casiño urged COA chair Reynaldo Villar to form a special audit team "to find out the whole truth" about the controversies surrounding Mrs. Arroyo's US visit. "This Representation absolutely finds the said meal expenditures irregular, unnecessary, excessive, extravagant or unconscionable even if the bills were footed by a private entity. Like most of our countrymen, I wonder, what other lavish expenses were made by the Philippine delegation?" Casiño asked in his two-paged letter. Casiño is also one of the authors of a resolution asking the House committee on good government to probe the New York dinner. [See:
House probe on NY dinner sought] In the resolution, Casiño, fellow Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo, and Gabriela Rep. Liza Maza said the committee should look into whether Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees and Presidential Decree No. 46 — which makes it punishable for any public official to receive gifts on any occasion by reason of his or her official position — were violated when Mrs. Arroyo and her entourage dined at Le Cirque. The militant lawmakers and several other critics of the government have slammed the presidential entourage's "lavish" dinners, saying they display the government's insensitivity to the poor state of many Filipinos.
- with Aie Balagtas See and Johanna Camille Sisante, GMANews.TV 
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