EDITORIAL – Junketeers

Some call it a junket. Others call it a vacation. It’s not a junket when Juan de la Cruz does not bankroll the expenses. But the line between public and private funds in this country is often blurred, so Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. should forgive those who are criticizing him about his group tours to Switzerland and Egypt.

Villar, the richest member of the Senate — or perhaps the most honest about his statement of assets and liabilities — insists that he shouldered the travel expenses in Geneva of some 50 members of his Nacionalista Party and their families in what he said was the NP’s annual overseas break. And he would not cancel another group tour to Egypt, he said, because he was footing the bill for all.

Even for a billionaire, it’s an impressive display of generosity. But then not all billionaires in this country are eyeing the presidency in 2010 and need to win as many friends as possible.

Villar could be telling the truth, but members of both chambers of Congress may still want to take this opportunity to review their rules on junkets. There are lawmakers who do use taxpayers’ money to finance trips overseas that are presented as official business but are in truth nothing but vacations. If they can get away with bringing along spouses and children using public funds, they do so.

As worrisome as junkets bankrolled by taxpayers are those financed by lobbyists or special interest groups. There is no such thing as a free lunch. One of the things that hounded Benjamin Abalos out of the Commission on Elections was his acceptance of several junkets in China sponsored by Chinese firm ZTE Corp., which needed a contact for bagging a multimillion-dollar broadband deal with the Arroyo administration.

Junkets are even more common among lawmakers, and it’s tough to keep track of which group is financing the overseas trip of a senator or congressman. Certain lawmakers are now making noises about the need for transparency in the disbursement of the congressional pork barrel. If they are serious about their housecleaning, they should not be scared of transparency in their travel expenditures.