“Members of the President’s immediate family are allowed to ride with him in official government vehicles.”
This is was what Presidential Communications Operations Secretary Herminio “Sonny” Coloma Jr. said in a text message to reporters amid the controversy surrounding a set of photos showing five brand new Bell 412 helicopters being used by President Noynoy Aquino, his sister Kris, and some other VIPs in a trip to the Visayas region.
As far as we know, the photos were originally part of a media set shared on the Facebook page of a local government unit, specifically the Municipality of Dalaguete. That media set has since been taken down. (This link to the Facebook media set is already dead.) In any case, copies of the photos were downloaded and re-uploaded on other Facebook pages such as Pinoy Aviators.
The helicopters — four from the 250th Presidential Airlift Wing and one from the 205th Tactical Helicopter Wing of the Philippine Air Force — transported PNoy’s group for the inauguration of the 59-megawatt solar power plant in San Carlos City owned by San Carlos Sun Power, Inc., a subsidiary of Aboitiz Power Corporation, on April 19, 2016, at San Carlos Ecozone, Barangay Punao, San Carlos City, Negros Occidental.
From San Carlos City, the President and his party flew to Argao and Dalaguete in southern Cebu.
People who have seen the photos have complained that it seems like it’s “an abuse of government resources for partisan politicking.”
“The President’s popular sister has earlier been tapped to support the campaign of Liberal Party standard bearer Mar Roxas and his running-mate Leni Robredo to boost their chances in the May 9 elections. This week she is set to be part of the LP campaign trail in Samar, Negros Occidental, and Cebu,” reports Genalyn Kabiling in Manila Bulletin.
The report went on to quote what the President said in his remarks during a campaign sortie in Argao, where he thanked Kris for supporting the administration’s campaign. “Siyempre ang laking itinutulong ho sa akin ‘nung ating Ate Kris ano, kaya maraming salamat sa iyo Ate Kris (My sister Kris has been a big help. So, thank you Kris),” he said.
Meanwhile, The Philippine Star also sought the comment of Koalisyon ng Daang Matuwid spokesman Ibarra Gutierrez, who said, “It seemed that it was the President being escorted (by the helicopters) and that (Kris) was simply accompanying him.”
He added, “The President is obviously always going to travel in a military or government chopper. If she was accompanying the President, then the chopper was not there for her, but for PNoy.”
