Unmindful of the global recession, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her large entourage from the Philippines ran up a $20,000 (P1 million) dinner tab at Le Cirque, a world-famous French restaurant in New York, reports The New York Post in its Page Six section on August 7. The hefty bill included several bottles of expensive wine.
The New York Post also mentioned that Arroyo's former comptroller of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Carlos Garcia, was found guilty earlier this year of perjury for misdeclaration of his assets and liabilities in 2000. His two sons Juan Paulo and Ian Carl were arrested in the US for smuggling $100,000. His other son Tim Mark Garcia, recently appointed head of public relations for Marc Jacobs, also faces extradition charges in the Philippines.
Garcia, his wife and three sons have been charged with plunder, for allegedly illegally amassing more than P300 million during the former General's active military service, reports the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement website.
Photo from www.lecirque.com.
Here's the "theoretical breakdown of the bill" based on Le Cirque's menu and wine list as posted by Manuel Quezon III in his blog quezon.ph:
