Palace counsel defends hiring of US lobby firm

Sergio Antonio Apostol, chief presidential legal counsel, has reportedly defended the Palace's plan of hiring a lobby firm in the US, saying that the Philippines needed a group that could push the interest of the country before the US Congress. Radio dzBB on Sunday quoted Apostol as saying that no country in the world "is without a lobby firm." He reportedly said that a lobby firm is needed to push a country's interest before the American Legislature, known as the "seat of international power." Senator Manuel Roxas II on Friday urged Malacañang to junk the reported $50-million six-month contract that the Philippine Embassy in Washington D.C. awarded to US lobby firm Covington & Burling LLP. He also called on the Palace to publish in full the provisions of the reported contract. Roxas said that if reports on the lobby firm were true, the new contract would be much more expensive than the failed Venable contract. But according to dzBB's report on Sunday, Apostol said that the country needed a lobby firm because major decisions in the US affect the world. He reportedly said that decisions by the US government, could affect the political and socio-economic issues in the Philippines, such as those about overseas Filipino workers, illegal Filipino migrants, and financial and military aid. - GMANews.TV