Malacañang: Aquino has no new luxury car

President Benigno Aquino III never bought nor received a new car after he disposed of his second-hand Porsche, a Malacañang official said Friday. “Not true na merong nagregalo sa kanya. Hindi rin po totoo iyung balita na bumili po siya ng bagong sasakyan. So let’s nip that it in the bud," deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said. Some reports have it that the President is in possession of a bullet proof BMW car. Asked if Aquino would accept if such a gift was given or offered to him, Valte said, “No, President Aquino is not the type to accept." Last Tuesday, Aquino said he decided to part with his Porsche, months after a survey showed that nearly half of Filipinos disapproved of his purchase of the luxury sports car. He said it was putting at unnecessary risk the people guarding him, the Presidential Security Group. “Masyado niyo nang in-expose. Para bang it was an advertisement na ‘Oy, andito ako," Aquino said. “It is time to let somebody else experience it." In March, the Social Weather Stations said that nearly half or 48 percent of about 1,200 respondents said Aquino’s purchase of a Porsche sports car last year was not a good example for the chief executive of a country like the Philippines. This was despite Aquino’s claims that the car was not brand new and that he had used his own money to purchase it. His critics have harped on the car purchase as a symbol of his presidency, with former Arroyo presidential spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao entitling a scathing assessment he wrote of Aquino's first year in power “The Porsche Presidency." — JE, GMA News