Bersamin says hard to tell how Marcos' Singapore F1 trip was funded
MANILA, Philippines — Over a week after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s unannounced trip to Singapore to watch the Formula One Grand Prix, there still remains an elephant in the room. How was it even funded?
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III sought Wednesday to finally settle this question by asking Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin during a Senate panel’s hearing on the Office of the President‘s proposed budget for 2023.
Responding to Pimentel’s question as to whether Marcos’ recent Singapore trip was personal or official, Bersamin said it was both.
“It was mixed, if you may put it that way, because the president was invited by the prime minister of Singapore to join him in that revival of that F1 racing in Singapore,” Bersamin said.
Given this, the “little president” said, it is hard to find out how it was actually funded.
READ: Confidential, intel funds in the national budget: What you need to know
“Distinguishing the sources of funding for that trip between the personal and the official might be very difficult, so I called it irrelevant,” Bersamin said, referencing his earlier answer to press queries about how the controversial Singapore trip was funded.
He again repeated his defense of the unannounced trip which drew criticism for having occurred just days after the onslaught of a devastating typhoon.
“Mayroon tayong obligasyon na kung saan pupunta ang presidente, kasama man iyong pamilya niya o hindi, hindi naman niya iniiwan ang pagkapresidente niya. So obligado pa rin iyong gobyerno na alagaan siya, i-secure siya,” he said, adding that Marcos’ visit to Singapore was not made known ahead of time due to security reasons.
(We have an obligation as the president does not leave his being a president wherever he goes, may it be with his family or not. So the government is obliged to take care of and secure him.)
Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara, who presided over the hearing, also came to Marcos’ defense by saying that the F1 Grand Prix “was a very big networking event” attended by “high-level or high-powered individuals.”
READ: Farmers slam Marcos' reported F1 Singapore weekend after typhoon
In the end, Pimentel concluded that Marcos’ visit to Singapore was an “official trip” and that the expenses incurred by the OP will be audited by the Commission on Audit anyway.
“The root of it all is the invitation from the Prime Minister of Singapore to Mr. Bongbong Marcos as president of the Republic of the Philippines. So therefore, that was an official trip,” Pimentel said.
Malacañang and Marcos himself called the Singapore visit “productive,” with the president saying on Instagram that the F1 race is the “best way to drum up business.”
Photos show Marcos was accompanied by First Lady Liza Marcos, their son Rep. Sandro Marcos (Ilocos Norte), and the latter's rumored girlfriend actress Alexa Miro. House Speaker Martin Romualdez (Leyte), the president's cousin, was also seen in some photos.
- Latest
- Trending
