Palace supports Senate probe on Arroyo travel expenses

Malacañang has expressed willingness to cooperate on the upcoming Senate investigation on former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's alleged overspending on official local and foreign trips in 2009. At a press briefing Thursday, presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said the executive branch will present all the necessary documents to the Senate committee that will conduct the investigation. "I think that's the best cooperation that the executive branch can do to that investigation since Executive Secretary [Paquito] Ochoa Jr. has already informed the Senate of the expenses of the previous administration with respect to travel," he said. He said at present, Ochoa's office is still in the process of asking concerned personnel to account and liquidate the travel expenses. "I think ngayon hinahanap pa rin, pinapa-account pa rin, at pinapa -liquidate pa rin ‘yung mga travel expenses po, so it's still in the process." A report on GMA News' "24 Oras" on Wednesday quoted a recent report by the Commission on Audit (COA) as saying that the Arroyo administration spent over P940 million on foreign and domestic travels in 2009 alone. Of the amount, P848 million was spent on foreign trips and P92 on domestic travels. In contrast, the travel budget in 2009 was P244.6 million. Apart from the former President’s huge travel expenses, the COA report cited P594 in unliquidated cash advances in 2009, Arroyo’s last year in Malacañang. An independent audit conducted by the Aquino administration has unearthed P367 million in unliquidated cash advances, most of which came from foreign travel expenses, Ochoa told senators in a budget hearing at the Senate on Wednesday. — Amita O. Legaspi/KBK, GMA News