PERIPATETIC PRESIDENT ARROYO

Perry Diaz
La Gloria's European Junket
In the aftermath of the failed rebellion last Nov. 29, 2007, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo -- confident that the rebellion had been suppressed -- embarked on a three-country trip to France, Spain and England. Her state visit to Spain was the first by a Philippine President since her late father, President Diosdado Macapagal, was a state guest of Spain in 1962. Except for few details of the trip, Malacanang Palace did not disclose the members of the presidential entourage.
However, the day after they left for Spain, the office of House Speaker Jose de Venecia leaked out the names of 34 congressmen who were in the President's retinue. They were mostly members of the President's coalition -- KAMPI, LAKAS-CMD, NPC, and LDP. According to the information released, the members of Congress and their wives or companions were given $5,000 roundtrip tickets, $500 per night for hotel accommodations, $500 for daily food allowance, and $3,000 "pocket money" for the duration of the trip. And who paid for the trip? According to Speaker De Venecia, Malacanang Palace paid for the congressmen's travel expenses.
Three Senators also joined the trip -- Edgardo Angara, Miriam Defensor-Santiago, and Juan Miguel Zubiri. The entourage included the entire First Family -- the First Couple; their children Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo, Diosdado "Dato" Arroyo and Evangeline Lourdes "Luli" Arroyo; and their four grandchildren. A Philippine Air Lines plane was chartered for the eight-day trip. All in all, there was a total of 192 names on the flight manifest which also included several cabinet members, presidential staff, and a group of 50 business cronies.
Opposition leaders were outraged at what they termed as a "junket" to reward the congressmen for junking the impeachment petition against Arroyo. It was estimated that the total cost of the European junket was at least $1.5 million. However, the "junket" was defended by Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye claiming that the host country -- Spain -- paid for the trip (of course the side trips to France and England were not included) of the official Philippine delegation including the First Family (nine persons), five Cabinet members, three senators, and two House leaders. He also claimed that the other members of the presidential party paid for their own expenses. If that's the case, I would not be surprised if the congressmen and senators took the money from their pork barrel allocations.
A recent Commission on Audit (COA) report revealed that Arroyo spent P398 million -- the equivalent of around $9 million -- in 2006 for travel to 13 countries. In 2005, she spent P154 million for travel to four countries. To date this year, Arroyo has traveled to 18 countries. That is one country every 20 days!
But what is really pathetic is that Arroyo herself is the number one violator of her own Administrative Order 103 -- "Directing the Continued Adoption of Austerity Measures in the Government" -- issued on August 31, 2004. AO 103 suspended "All foreign travels, except for (i) ministerial meetings, and (ii) scholarships/trainings that are grant-funded or undertaken at no cost to the government." It also suspended all unnecessary domestic travels. However, she spent P55 million and P83 million for domestic travels in 2005 and 2006, respectively.
All in all, the peripatetic President spent budget. almost a quarter of the 2006 Office of the President
What is the political repercussion of this "junket" scandal? I am pretty sure that some people will be "punished" for the leakage. And this brings to mind the ongoing feud between President Arroyo and Speaker De Venecia. Imagine, a battle between the two "giants" of the two branches of the government. Indeed, it could become a war of "Napoleonic" proportion.
It is no secret that the relationship between Arroyo and De Venecia is not as cordial as the two tried to project it in public. The National Broadband Network (NBN) scandal is not yet over. De Venecia's son, Jose "Joey" de Venecia III, is still smarting -- and is still on the warpath -- from losing the $329 million NBN contract. Meanwhile, in what appears to be a politically motivated gambit, the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCCG) asked the Solicitor General to review the $120-million "behest loan" contracted by Landoil Resources which was formerly headed by Speaker De Venecia 20 years ago.
"Behest loans" during the Marcos regime were called as such because they were extended by government financial institutions at the behest of Marcos. The loans were not collateralized; the word of the strongman was the "collateral." After Marcos was deposed in 1986, the newly formed PCCG negotiated a compromise deal with Landoil that called for dismissal of the case against De Venecia and for Landoil and De Venecia to repay the $120 million "behest loan." De Venecia agreed and signed an agreement in 1988 which stipulated that should Landoil failed to repay the loan, the case against Landoil and De Venecia would be revived. The loan was never repaid; however, De Venecia claimed that the Supreme Court dismissed the case in 1995. He said that "political vendetta" was behind the revival of the case against him.
De Venecia is left with few options. One option is for him to rein in his son Joey and tell him to shut up. Or he can fight back. With the 34 "junketeers" back in Congress from their European escapade, I would not be surprised if they would soon start a move to junk De Venecia from the Speakership. His political power could diminish very fast and once Arroyo starts using her political patronage, De Venecia's political base could be blown to smithereens.
But who knows? De Venecia is an old pro and a survivor. Last November 28, 2007, he attended and spoke at the 100th anniversary of the Nacionalista Party. He alluded to the strong alliance between NP and his Lakas-CMD, saying: "The alliance is ongoing, we have a powerful coalition with NP." Is De Venecia ready to junk Arroyo and join the Nacionalistas? In politics anything is possible.