Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin: “The visit then was partly official, partly personal”
BERSAMIN — Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said that the President’s unannounced trip to Singapore was “partly official and partly personal”.
On Wednesday, Bersamin was asked by Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III during the hearing of the Senate finance panel on the Office of the President’s proposed budget for 2023 if the President’s trip to Singapore was personal or official.
According to him, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. was invited by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to join him in watching the revival of F1 Grand Prix.
He also said that the President “most likely saw an opportunity for him to expand on a goodwill that he generated” when he made the official state visit. However, he said that they couldn’t announce the President’s state visit beforehand for security reasons.
Regarding the Singapore trip, the Executive Secretary said that one shouldn’t be too concerned about the expenses as PBBM still performed his duties as President.
READ ALSO: Bersamin Speaks On PBBM’s Weekend Trip To Singapore
Bersamin also elaborated on his previous statement that the source of the funds for the trip was irrelevant.
“Mayroon tayong obligasyon na kung saan pupunta ang Presidente, kasama man ‘yung pamilya niya o hindi, hindi naman niya iniiwan ‘yung pagka-Presidente niya,” Bersamin said. “So obligado pa rin ‘yung gobyerno na alagaan siya, i-secure siya, at that was my point when I made that statement.“
To recall, President Bongbong Marcos said last October 3 that F1 racing was the best way to “drum up business” and called his trip to Singapore as “productive” despite criticisms.
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