Lawmaker left P70-K tip for Arroyo dinner at US restaurant

A congressman with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on her controversial trip to the United States early this month thought nothing of leaving a $1,500 tip at a Washington restaurant. Besides admitting that he forked out $12,000 for the Arroyo entourage’s pricey dinner at Bobby Van’s Steak House in Washington D.C. on July 30, Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez also said that he gave the restaurant a gratuity equivalent to P70,000. The lawmaker showed GMA News the receipt to prove his claim. Suarez said that in the US, it was “customary" to give a tip equivalent to about 15 percent of the total restaurant bill. Suarez said he hosted the dinner to celebrate the 41st wedding anniversary of the President and Jose Miguel Arroyo. “Embarrassing naman na ako ang nagyaya tapos iba ang pagbabayarin ko (It would be embarrassing if I let others foot the bill since I was the one who hosted the dinner)," Suarez said.

The lawmaker also said that The Washington Post was correct in reporting that an unidentified woman with a handbag stuffed with cash paid for the dinner. But Suarez clarified that he later paid the woman for the dinner expenses. He identified the woman as an official from Malacañang. “Ayoko naman na bumunot dun at magbibilang ako. Kaya sinabi ko sa protocol, tinanong ko muna sila, ‘May pera ba kayo?’" he said. “(I told her),’Bayaran muna ninyo, give me the receipt, and I will pay you back." (I don't want to take out my wallet and count money there. Thus I asked the protocol officer if she has money. I told her, 'Pay this first, give me the receipt, and I will pay you back.') “Pagdating sa hotel, pinadala na sa akin ‘yong envelope (containing the receipt), (When we arrived at the hotel, the woman sent me the envelope containing the receipt)" he added. Suarez, a known Arroyo ally, said the Washington dinner was not the first time he treated the President to a meal during a foreign trip. He says he usually sets aside personal money for these kinds of expenses. Suarez represents a district in Quezon province that is one of the poorest in the country, the Bondoc peninsula, a traditional insurgency hotbed and a land of extreme social inequities. - GMANews.TV