Austerity cuts GMA delegation for China trip

Adhering to "austerity" measures she enforced on all government agencies, President Arroyo reduced the official delegation for her three-day state visit to Beijing next week.

Palace officials preparing for the President’s visit to China from Sept. 1 to 3 said yesterday the Chief Executive has been personally reviewing the list of official delegates from the government to keep expenses to the barest minimum for her first foreign trip after she won the presidential elections last May.

Protocol chief Lingling Lacanlale and Susana Vargas, deputy executive secretary for finance and administration, separately told The STAR the President has directed them to keep the expenses down.

Vargas said since this is a state visit, part of the expenses will be shouldered by China as the host government.

In a state visit, a specific number is usually provided for, such as the "President plus 10," meaning all state courtesies will be provided to the Chief Executive and 10 members of her official delegation.

If Mrs. Arroyo takes a "chartered flight," it will be the Philippine government that will pay for it, Vargas said. But if the President takes a regular commercial flight, the host government will pay only for the fares of the official party.

Vargas said they are focused on trimming down the advance party and the secondary delegation for the state visit.

"As in her past foreign trips, (the President) always limits this to 50 people or less. She personally checks each and every name and scratches (out) any one of them if their presence is not needed in that trip," she said.

This was confirmed by Lacanlale, who said even the name of Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye, who concurrently holds the position of press secretary, was scratched from the latest list submitted to the President.

As of yesterday, the official delegation to China includes First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, Senate President Franklin Drilon, Speaker Jose de Venecia, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, Energy Secretary Vicente Perez, and Transportation and Communications Undersecretary for railways Jose Cortez Jr., who will sign the agreement on the North Rail Project with his Chinese counterparts.

Private businessmen and media delegates pay for their own expenses when they join the President in state and official visits, except for members of government media.

Filipino-Chinese businessmen led by Philippine Airlines chairman Lucio Tan, the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry led by their president Robin Sy, and Manila Times publisher Dante Ang are among the 70-strong business delegation joining the President’s state visit to China.

Lacanlale said the President is set to go to Guangzhou, where she has scheduled official activities before she goes to the capital city of Beijing for the state visit.

While in Beijing, Mrs. Arroyo will meet with the top three Chinese leaders: President Hu Jintao, communist party leader Jiang Zemin, and Premier Wen Jia Bao.

From Beijing, Mrs. Arroyo will take a two-hour flight to Xi An City, where visiting world leaders can view the historic Chinese terra cotta warriors.

Mrs. Arroyo will then fly back to Beijing, where she has to deliver a "keynote address" before the 3rd International Conference of Asian Political Parties on Sept. 3. She will return to Manila later that evening.

This early, Palace officials have started preparing for the President’s trip to Vietnam on Oct. 7 to 9 to attend the Asia-Europe Meeting; the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Council Leaders’ Summit in Chile on Nov. 19 to 21; and the 10th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Leaders’ Summit in Vientane, Laos on Nov. 28 to 29. — Marichu Villanueva