Palace admits hiring PR firm to handle Aquino's visit to US

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang has admitted hiring a public relations firm based in the United States to handle the publicity of President Aquino’s visit to the country.

Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang said hiring a private publicity firm is common practice among visiting heads of state to help them get exposure in the US media.      

“I would venture to say that it’s not only the Philippines that hired a PR firm for the purpose of the visit. There are many leaders who visit the US and I know it’s SOP (standard operating procedure) to do that,” he said.

During his weeklong visit to the US, Mr. Aquino will attend the UN General Assembly and possibly have a meeting with US President Barack Obama.                                                              

There have been speculations that the Philippine government is paying P45 million for the services of the firm, on top of the P25 million allotted for the trip.

Carandang admitted that the publicity fee is on top of the budget for the trip but that it is a “modest” amount.               

“Absolutely not, much, much lower than that. It’s a modest amount, modest even by Philippine standards. There may be an additional amount for the P25 million US trip, but this is not huge as critics have insinuated,” he said.                                                                                               

He also refused to disclose the name of the publicity firm hired.