‘Billionaire’ Eddie Gil can’t pay hotel bills

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – A presidential candidate who promised to give every Filipino P1 million was threatened with arrest yesterday after refusing to pay a hotel bill for his campaign staff, police said.

After a tense standoff lasting several hours, Eddie Gil of the "Isang Bansa, Isang Diwa" party agreed to pay in cash his and his staff’s bill amounting to P35,000. He had earlier issued a check that bounced.

"We will let them go because they have already paid," said local police precinct chief Inspector Celso Muntil.

Gil, who claims to have $20 billion in assets but is scoring less than one percent in opinion polls ahead of the May 10 vote, barred himself in his hotel room when staff of the VIP Hotel in this city summoned police to have him arrested.

Just the night before, Gil vowed to pay the country’s ballooning debts if he wins the race for Malacañang in May.

The self-described investment banker issued this campaign pitch in his proclamation rally Tuesday night, attended by less than 1,000 people at Mindanao Polytechnic State College.

"Vote for me not because I want to become president but I want to have the power to implement the projects to pay off the debts we have incurred in this debt-laden country," Gil reportedly revved up the lean audience.

Muntil said Gil checked into the hotel with a retinue of 200 staff as he campaigns for the election. However, the check he issued bounced due to insufficient funds.

Muntil earlier told reporters that he caught Gil and five other companions escaping through the hotel’s kitchen, but the kitchen personnel stopped them.

Joy Sayson, cashier of Barangay Manok restaurant, reported that Gil owes the restaurant about P27,000.

A local bus association also said he had paid 200 of its members a total of P400,000 to join his motorcade through the city. Those checks had also bounced, Muntil said.

A spokeswoman for the Gil camp said the presidential hopeful, who claims to be a multi-millionaire businessman and international banker, had agreed to pay the bus operators back.

Elizabeth Samson, Gil’s running mate and the vice chairman of the party, blamed the media for the mess they were in.

"There are some members of the media here who are disgruntled because we did not give in to their demands. What is happening right is orchestrated by our political rivals," she said.

Gil tried to run for the Senate in 2001 but was disqualified on grounds that he did not have the financial capability to mount a nationwide campaign.

To the amazement of many, electoral authorities did not disqualify him from this year’s presidential race although they barred 79 other obscure figures, including a woman who claimed to be the fiancee of US President George W. Bush.

Yesterday’s developments highlight the chaotic nature of the Philippines’ presidential race, whose frontrunner is a movie star with no political experience and little formal education. — AFP, Bong Fabe