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Extravagant Meals, Arroyo's Defense

The controversial $20,000 meal of President Arroyo in Le Cirque NY appears to be not the only extravagant meal the President had in the U.S., for another extravagant meal that Madam President and her entourage took during their visit of the United States had been published. This time the story came out in The Washington Post and it states, "Arroyo is under fire in her native country for a $20,000 meal at Manhattan's Le Cirque on Aug. 2, which included caviar and several bottles of champagne. The dinner, first reported in the New York Post, has Arroyo's critics comparing her to the extravagant Imelda Marcos.

The Reliable Source has learned that three days earlier, 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 she met with President 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."

This news only proves that the President and her entourage indeed has a very expensive taste when it comes to what they eat during their visit in the United States. As to defend Madam President, Malacañang asked everybody to stop bickering over hefty dinner bills for she has racked up billions worth of investments in return.

Anthony Golez,

a deputy spokepersin of Mrs. Arroyo, also defended the president and her entourage and he said “Whatever monies may have been spent for the appropriately ceremonious conduct of her official trip abroad are but a tiny fraction of the billions of pesos she has committed, and will continue to commit, to the alleviation of hunger and the amelioration of poverty in our country,” reading from a statement at a media briefing. He also said that the president merely accommodated her generous host, and did not bother with the cost of the dinner out of "respect". Golez said “If you are an invited guest, normally, [you] don’t ask the host about the food that they will serve, or ask how much they paid for that.”.

Atty. Romulo Macalintal, Mrs. Arroyo's election lawyer, on the other hand turned into the media outfits as to defend the President, saying that media owners should not question the "morality" of the extravagant dinners when they continue to earn millions of pesos by accommodating political ads violating the law against premature campaigning. But if Atty. Macalintal would point this out, he should keep in mind that most of the political ads being shown in televisions today features member of the cabinet and Mrs. Arroyo as well.

Despite the efforts by the defenders of Mrs. Arroyo questions are still needed to be answered like is racking billions worth of investments enough to be an excuse for people not to ask questions, on where the money came from? or is it right for government officials to be pigging out on expensive meals when their country is drowning in debt and dying of hunger? Instead of diverting the issues and weaving up excuses, Mrs. Arroyo and her defenders should just answer these questions. And they should always remember that all people in the government are all PUBLIC SERVANTS so they should serve the public and not the other way around, GOVERNMENT FUNDS should be spent for project and not for government officials and finally people who are not doing anything wrong doesn't need DEFENDING.