Respect the taxpayer!

A series of photos went viral last week showing Kris Aquino dressed in campaign yellow t-shirt and a row of presidential helicopters and the usual aides. It is the campaign season, so the pictures shouldn’t have raised any eyebrows.

The age of social media is, however, so different from what we have been used to. Every person is his or her own publisher and thus feels empowered to rage at what is seen as an abuse of official powers and privileges.

With cell phone cameras everywhere, it is stupid of the Palace to think they can get away with using helicopters paid for by the taxpayers for a political campaign event. The anger unleashed on social media on this blatant abuse of privilege is understandable and justified.

Administration apologists tried to explain the situation away. One story is that Kris accompanied P-Noy to an official function, an inauguration of a project, giving her the right to ride in the presidential chopper.

Assuming the official story is truthful, it was just half the story. There was also a political rally they attended that needed the drawing power of Kris Aquino’s presence. If they dressed up Miss Universe in campaign yellow and made her ride the helicopter with P-Noy, it would still be wrong. It isn’t about Kris.

The use of official assets for political purposes is what people are mad about. It disrespects the hardworking taxpayer who toils at least three months of the year for the taxes he or she must pay.

The administration apologists were aghast people had the nerve to complain about something that is standard behavior in this country. Lower level government bureaucrats use their red plate vehicles to bring their children to school, do the day’s marketing or ferry family guests to a picnic. Just the other Sunday, I saw a red plate SUV drop off four women at Megamall for some weekend shopping.

Here is a Feb. 26 news story on how Malacanang feels about the use of government vehicles for the political campaign of the administration party.

“’We’re glad citizens were vigilant. There is no excuse for the use by the local government of their official vehicles for any candidate,’ presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said in a text message to reporters.

 “Lacierda issued the statement after a photo showing a vehicle with red license plate carrying campaign materials for Liberal Party (LP) standard bearer Mar Roxas circulated online.”

Maybe Lacierda didn’t clear the statement with P-Noy because that’s the very point netizens are raising that P-Noy didn’t get. No, P-Noy, that Kris is a large taxpayer has nothing to do with the issue… it is totally irrelevant.

The other explanation I can see for the divergence in Lacierda’s statement and P-Noy’s justification is simply, they are hypocrites. Or maybe, they don’t consider a helicopter a vehicle. Or maybe, P-Noy is exempted from following his own tough rules.

Of course, netizens were aghast to see those Kris Aquino photos. If it were Binay, Cayetano or Escudero, people will probably think it is expected. That it was P-Noy who is doing it makes all the difference.

Why? Because P-Noy had been holier than thou. He has set the standards very high for acceptable official behavior, constantly emphasizing Daang Matuwid. He is expected to set the example.

Simply put, it is not right to use the money of taxpayers for purposes other than the exercise of official functions as president of the Republic. Performance of functions as head of the Liberal Party is an entirely different matter. The party must pay for the costs by reimbursing the National Treasury.

It is true that it is often difficult to put a clear line between a president’s official functions and those that are personal or political. They have been agonizing about that too in the United States. But at least in the US, there is an honest effort to be fair to the taxpayers every time the president uses Air Force One or any other military asset to move him around.

I googled the question and found this article in the website azcentral.com. This is what they do.

 “For political trips benefiting his own campaign, Obama’s team repays the government for air travel under a formula that’s based on what it would cost to charter a Boeing 737 for a comparable trip, according to the White House.

“Obama’s campaign doesn’t have to pay the full cost for a chartered plane, though. It pays a reduced amount based on the number of people aboard Air Force One who were traveling for political reasons. That number excludes Secret Service agents and other support staff who always travel with the president.

“Obama’s political team also pays for items on the ground like food and lodging that are related to political events. Similar reimbursement rules govern political travel by the vice president and first lady, who fly on smaller, less costly military aircraft.

“Obama is the first president to pay for re-election travel under updated rules adopted by the Federal Election Commission in 2009 to implement a lobbying and ethics reform law passed by Congress in 2007.

“David Mason, a former FEC chairman, said the new rules -- linking reimbursement amounts to charter air rates rather than commercial airfare -- require the Obama campaign to pay significantly more than it would have under the old rules.

“FEC rules specify that when there is any political activity at a particular stop, all travel to that destination must be reimbursed.”

Hmm… it seems Comelec is sleeping on its job. It is also the duty of our Comelec to see to it the administration party does not get an unfair benefit from the use of government assets on the campaign trail. The Comelec, as an independent constitutional body mandated to ensure fairness, must do just that…

Of course, Malacañang can claim the main event was the inauguration of a project and they just made a side trip to the political rally. In the US, they also have rules on how to handle that.

“When a presidential trip includes multiple stops, some of them for political events and some for official purposes, then travel costs get divided up between the campaign and the government.”

Another website, http://uspolitics.about.com/ offers more insights on how gray situations are handled:

 “The president and his family and staff travel on Air Force One for a combination of political and official purposes, they typically reimburse taxpayers for the part of the trip that is considered campaigning… according to the Congressional Research Service.”

P-Noy should start to feel the need to live by the high standards he has set. It is bad enough the Liberal Party, through cabinet members like Agri Sec. Alcala, have been distributing goodies paid for out of the national budget during campaign events. Government employees are being used to gather rally crowds and other government assets, like vehicles, are shamelessly being used to campaign for the administration candidates.

The netizen anger shouldn’t be directed at Kris Aquino but at the Palace organizers who placed her in an untenable situation. Maybe the Palace organizers failed to grasp the demands of Daang Matuwid because P-Noy seems to have not shown the example or given specific orders based on the high standards of ethical behavior he has set.

COA and the Comelec should do their duty, even if after the fact.

 Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco