Benefits far outweigh Arroyo travel expenses, say aides

A day after admitting the President overspent by more than P1 billion on her travel budget since 2001, Malacañang officials on Wednesday said the fruits of her travels far outweigh the expenses incurred. Gary Olivar, presidential spokesman for economic affairs, also said in an interview on dzXL radio that the budget for the President's travel may be too low in the first place. “Ano ang tama, yung masyadong mataas ang gastusin o masyadong mababa ang kanyang budget (What is the right way of putting it: Were her expenses too much, or was the budget allocation too low)?" he said. On Tuesday, Malacañang admitted it spent P1.06 billion more than what was allocated for Mrs. Arroyo’s local and foreign trips in 2001 to Aug. 14, 2009. Susana Vargas, deputy executive secretary for finance and administration, said from January 2001 to August 2009, the allocation for Mrs. Arroyo’s trips was P1,439,232. She said the actual expenses reached P2,499,280,595.08, or a difference of P1,060,048,595.08 or almost double the amount earmarked for Arroyo’s travel expenses. Olivar argued, however, that the non-financial “benefits" that resulted from Mrs. Arroyo’s trips far outweighed whatever excess spending may have been incurred. He cited the President's visits to the Middle East from 2006 to this year, during which she negotiated for the freedom of two overseas Filipino workers from death row, and some 700 more OFWs from various jails there. In her visit to Saudi Arabia in May 2006 alone, President Arroyo asked King Abdullah to release 50 mostly domestic helpers jailed for running away from their employers. King Abdullah responded by releasing more than 300 Filipinos languishing in jails across the Kingdom. By making personal appeals to the emir of Kuwait, she was also able to get the rule pardon two domestic helpers facing the death penalty for murder. (See Kuwaiti ruler grants full pardon to OFW Vecina. “Paano natin masasabi na ang isang pagbiyahe ay… (kalabisan)? Example, kung nagtipid ang Pangulo at ‘di nagpunta sa Middle East, ‘di sana nailabas mula sa iba’t ibang mga kulungan doon ang 700 overseas Filipino workers (How can we say a foreign trip is excessive? Like the example I cited, if the president saved one foreign trip, would she have secured the freedom of 700 OFWs)?" he said. "Do we put a price on the lives of OFWs freed because of that trip? Is it an abuse? I don’t think we can pass judgment on that," he added. Olivar said there are also the potential financial benefits Mrs. Arroyo brings home from her foreign trips. “Of course bawa’t trip ng pangulo titingnan din. Ano ang naging dahilan ng pag-alis, ito ba ay justified, anong inuwi na benepisyo, tapos kumpara ang benepisyo sa ginastos para sa trip. Kung over budget yan, aba diyan natin tatanungin kung ito ba justified? That’s the only way to answer kung tama o mali ang pagbiyahe," he said. (Of course, each trip should be scrutinized. What is the reason? Is it justified? Then you check the benefits caused by the trip, and compare it to the amount spent. If it is over budget, compare it to the benefits brought by the trip. That’s the only way to see if the trip was right or wrong.) Mum on lawmakers' expenses Olivar, however, refused to say who paid for the trips of the lawmakers who accompanied the President on her visit to the United States. Mrs. Arroyo's trip became controversial after US newspapers reported that her entourage spent $20,000 for a single dinner at the posh Le Cirque restaurant in New York City daya after spending $15,000 at Bobby Van's Steakhouse in Washington D.C. Olivar said that the issue about the lawmakers’ expenses is between them and their leadership in the House of Representatives. "The President even advised the lawmakers to show prudence and discretion. But we are only concerned with the budget of the Office of the President," he said. Vargas and Olivar said it is legal for government agencies, including the Office of the President, to augment their operating expenses from savings and the Contingent Fund. “We stayed within our MOOE (maintenance and other operating expenses). I don’t think it is correct also to say that we overspent," she said, adding “these are the usual expenses we undertake during presidential trips." [See COA urged to audit expenses of Arroyo US trip] - GMANews.TV