Report: Arroyo entourage also had $15,000 meal in D.C.
MANILA - Three days before allegedly spending $20,000 for a dinner in a Manhattan restaurant, President Arroyo and her entourage also reportedly spent another $15,000 for dinner at Bobby Van's Steakhouse on 15th Street, Washington DC, a major US daily reported Wednesday.
A report titled "Heartburn Over Two Big Meals" in the Washington Post's Reliable Source column said Mrs. Arroyo and an entourage of about 65 people, including security and food tasters, had dinner at Bobby Van's Steakhouse on 15th Street NW hours after her July 30 meeting with US President Barack Obama.
"The group took over one of the restaurant's private rooms and dined on lobster, steak and fine wines; at the conclusion of the meal, an unidentified woman opened a handbag stuffed with cash, counted out bills and paid the $15,000 tab -- which included a generous tip," the column read.
"The Philippine Embassy did not return calls for comment Tuesday," it added.
The bill of $15,000 roughly translates to about P720,899 based on latest foreign exchange rates (not P720,899,000 as we earlier reported).
Steaks at the popular restaurant are priced anywhere from $38 (P1,830) to $42 (P2,023), according to the Bobby Van's Steakhouse website. Half bottles of red and white wine at the restaurant are priced between $18 (P867) to $60 (P2,890) while the most expensive bottle on the winelist, a Louis Roederer Cristal Reims, is priced at $575 (P27,697).
Arroyo's expensive dinner in Washington is the second to be reported by the US media recently. Last week, the New York Post reported that Arroyo and her entourage dined at Manhattan's Le Cirque on August 2, with the dinner bill amounting to $20,000 or almost P1 million.
Malacañang spokesmen have denied that public funds were used to pay for the dinner. They said it was Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez who paid the bill. Romualdez is the nephew of former First Lady Imelda Marcos.
Akbayan party-list Rep. Walden Bello on Wednesday urged the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate President Arroyo for violating Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.
Bello cited Section 4(h) of the law which states that “public officials shall lead modest lives appropriate to their positions and income,” and that “they shall not engage in extravagant or ostentatious displays of wealth."
He added that if Romualdez paid for the dinner, then both Arroyo and Romualdez could be charged with bribery.
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pinakamagaling na pangulo
sa lahat ng pangulo ng pilipinas na inabot ko si pangulong gloria ang pinakamagaling sa lahat. magaling sya sa lahat mula sa pagsisinungaling, pang-aagaw ng pwesto, pangungurakot, etc.
is this still journalism or propaganda?
i woke up early in the morning and read this article. after reading, i watched UMAGANG KAY GANDA and they are discussing about THIS topic. sinabe ng abogado na host (i cant remember his name and i won't mind remembering) na maliit daw ang cost ng dinner kung ikukumpara sa mga PROGRAMA NG GOBYERNO PARA SA MGA GUTOM! HE IS LYING!!!! this article compares the cost of dinner with the infomercial (politicking, early campaning bullsh**) of the presidential candidates, hindi sa programa ng gobyerno! ANG AGA-AGA PA LANG, NASIRA NA ANG ARAW KO! umagang kay pangit talaga!
this station is destroying the country by feeding WRONG information to the masses! is this still journalism or propaganda?
p.s. i have the right of freedom of expression like the freedom of expression the media is doing.
Smorgasbord not ALA CARTE
Smorgasbord a.k.a. "pick and choose" items....eto ang tunay na isyu...I've seen on "UKG - umagang kay ganda", kahapon pag-uwi ko ng bahay...the interview of my idol "KA TONYING" with my other respected idol, Atty. Romy Macalintal...both are very intelligent, God-fearing and staunch disciples of Law.....Kung "boxing" ito...Ka Tonying got the last round (dahil he's the facilitator and conveniently should have the final words with matching background music)...In the eyes of millions of Kababayans who are obviously irritated by the constant barage of malacanang's "bad" publicity due to the dismal handling of their "bobong" PROs(Remonde-monyo and Lore-liar), Atty. Romy looks like he is in dire need of trying to defend a "Pre-conceived guilty party"....This is how "POWERFUL" the machinations of MEDIA can come into play...We as "human beings - kingdom animalia/phylum chordata/genus homo/specie homo sapiens", regardless of nationality or heritage(kano, japon, etc.)are "Mentally Conditioned" by our external senses.....at yun ang gustong bigyang-liwanag ni ATTY ROMY....dapat sundin ang PROSESO ng batas BAGO HUSGAHAN.....at hindi porke ipinagtatanggol ng isang Mambabatas ang isang partido ay ..he is "CONDONING" whatever "pre-conceived anomalies" already committed .....HUWAG DAPAT "Smorgasbord" a.k.a "Pick and Choose na informasyon and ipakain sa PUBLIKO na ginagawa "sometimes inadvertently" ng few media spinsmeisters.....eh lalo na ngayon...few months to go before a national election....MAGKANO BA ANG 30-second clip of "INFOMERCIALS"...accdg to Sen Miriam Defensor.....400,000 pesos DAW.....SUSMARYOSEP!!(bukam-bibig ng idol kong si KA TONYING)....eh di ibig sabihin pala sa sa isang two-hour dinner(tsibugan) = 120 minutes =240 @30-seconds(400K pesos)....eh....uma-atikabong...."NINETY-SIX(96) MILYON PESOSESESES....IYUN!.........DAPAT LAHAT NA NG TATAKBO FOR NEXT YEAR NGAYON PA LANG.....ILABAS NA NG MEDIA ANG KANILANG STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILTIES".....................THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE (Jn 8:32)......and you will be FREELY ELECTED by a FREE democratic society......P.S. - yung informercials hindi "libre" ahhh!
TAMA NA TIGILAN NA
MGA KABAYAN, ALAM MO NA WALANG MANGYAYARI SA INYONG KANGAWA-NGAWA DYAN.. KUMAIN MAN SILA SA MAMAHALING LUGAR WALA NA TAYO DOON SA KANILA NAMAN ANG GOBYERNO ANO! HINTAYIN NA LANG NATIN ANG WAIT TO BECOME! DI BA KANYA KANYA LANG NAMAN YAN HAYAAN NA NATIN KUNG KAYA NILANG KONSENSYAHIN NA SILA AY KAYANG KAYANG GAWIN ANG GANYAN..BAKA NAMAN SI TITO MIKE ANG NAG BAYAD DAHIL MALAKI NAMAN PALA ANG KINITA SA BUY AND SELL ANO! KAYA TAMA NA YAN KAYA NAMANG SUPALPALAN NG DATONG ANG MGA IYAN KAYA WALA DIN MANGYAYARI SA ATING KADADADA ANO..
BAKA NGA ANG CAPITAL GAIN TAX SA LUPA NYANG NAIBENTA DI PA NAPUNTA SA ATING GOBYERNO KASI BAKA DI NAMAN SILA NAG BAYAD ANO!...TAMA NA KASI TIGILAN NA LANG NATIN ANO PA BA ANG MAGAGAWA NATIN SILA ANG SUMUSUPIL KAHIT NA NGA ANG AFP AT PNP KAYA NILANG SUPILIN IKAW PA O AKO PA KAYA SINO BA TAYO.. BASTA IKAW JUAN MANAHIMIK KA NA LANG HA KASI TULOG KA NG TULOG JAN..KAWAWA KA BAYAN..NASA KAMAY KA NG GAHAMAN...KAILAN KA KAYA MAKAKAAHON SA GANYANG LIPUNAN..SALAMAT HA BASTA TUMIGIL KA NA LANG HA ISIPIN MO ANG BAYAN AY PARA SA MAMAMAYAN......LOVE EACH OTHER NA LANG ..PEACE BE WITH YOU ALL...GOD BLESS US...MABUHAY PILIPINAS..BCC(OFW)
the real score
hey guyz what i've noticed is we are more of criticizing people and trying to make deliver bluntly accusations. we are not of how much the exact rate of dollar here. ang pinag uusapan is they spend too much for the dinner. we are not after of exact 718,000 pesos or 707,000 pesos or as what had been reported by abs the 720,000 dinner cost because it does not matter. what matters here is the big amount of money spent by the president and her entourage which is more or less or almost 720,000 pesos. every now and then the forex exchange rate changes but it does not affect in millions. so they are giving us the rough estimate and not the exact price of food consumed. sometimes what is wrong with us is masyado tayong mapuna even on small account of mistakes. lets not do that. ang gusto natin iparating dito is the concerned authorities should make action on how to deal with this kind of situation.na sobrang laki gumastos and government officials natin without considering that the amount of money they spent lavishly could have been used to help poor people especially those who are hungry. That the government officials should make little sacrifices even just that they can make sympathy to the poor people suffering from economic crisis today. The big amount of money is not an issue here if the Philippines and the filipino people are living in a way that their needs are met but its not. Many are hungy, many are poor, many are homeless and many are sick. Those money can already helped those helpless people
Exhange rate on remittances
By the way po, ang exhange rate FROM ibang bansa is different if we had our dollars exchanged for pesos sa Pilipinas.
Example po, ang change rate dito sa Singapore ng 1SGD = 33 pesos. So sa isang libong dollars ko po equivalent to 33,000 pesos.
Where are kung ipapadala namin sa Pilipinas ang dollars sa pinas at dun papapalitan it will become 1 SGD = 30.50 pesos lang po. So sa isang libong dollars na papapalitan ko sa Pilipinas will only be 30,500 pesos lang po.
At kung dala mo naman po ay pesos at papapalitan ng dollars it will be higher, example po 1SGD = 34.5 pesos. So kung kailangan ko po ng isang libong singapore dollars kailangan ko po ng 34,500 pesos po.
OFW po ako so alam ko po ito. At malamang po sa tama ang exchange rate ng ABS CBN. Salamat po
A shame on our public officials
Guys...whether the exchange rate is a little off or whether some Filipinos have a million in their bank account, the fact is it is very unethical for a public official to spend this much money in one night. The FACT again is that this was actually reported by a FOREIGN newspaper, which is quite shameful for us Filipinos.
I am not saying that they cannot dine in Fine Restaurants because they can. But not in a VERY luxurious one. They can dine in hotel restaurants where they only have to spend 100-200 USD. Not spending 2,200 USD per head. That is too much even for US citizens.
WE FILIPINOS MUST VOTE FOR
WE FILIPINOS MUST VOTE FOR SOMEONE THAT WILL ASSURE THE NATION, THAT THAT ALL THE CORRUPTIONS AND ATROCITIES OF GLORIA AND MIKE ARROYO BE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE...WE MUST NEVER FORGET WE MUST NEVER LET THIS BRAZEN ACT AGAINST OUR COUNTRY GO UNPUNISHED...WE OWE IT TO PRESIDENT CORY AQUINO, WE OWE IT TO OUR CHILDREN , WE OWE IT TO OURSELVES...
* New Ang taas ng rate ng dollar!!!!!
Eto po kasi sabi ninyo sa news ninyo (copy/paste) "The bill of $15,000 roughly translates to about P720,899,000 based on latest foreign exchange rates." Ang laking pera talaga nyan. Mali ata rate ninyo.
Ang taas ng rate ng dollar!!!!!
Hey, ABS-CBN pwede po ba sa inyo ko na lang papalit yung dollars ko? Hingi ako $15,000 sa asawa ko, kahit magutang lang sya sa America, para milyonaryo na kami dito sa Pilipinas. Ang taas po ng rate ng dollar ninyo. Kakalula, ha, ha, ha. ANo po ba yan? Nililito nyo po ba kaming mga tao? Umayos naman po kayo, pati nga yang si Willie Revillame ninyo nawawala na rin sa tamang landas. Tama po ba yang balita ninyong iyan, masyado naman yata exagerated. Hindi po ako pro-Arroyo pro-GMA network lang he, he. Pero maging makatarungan naman po kayo. MISLEADING NEWS!! Nasa Yahoo Philippines pa mandin ang news na to. Dapat lang po ata kayo mag-public apology!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!