News update Palace exec: There was no June 30 ‘drinking spree’ in Malacañang

Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. and his staff did not hold a “drinking spree" in Malacañang during President Benigno Aquino III's June 30 inauguration, Ochoa's office said Friday.

A Newsbreak story published on its website last Monday said Ochoa and other Palace officials "reportedly drank to their hearts' content in the Premier Guest House, where they ordered cases of beer and pulutan [appetizers]."
Inaugural Celebration of the 40th Mayor of the City and County of San Francisco January 8, 1992
But the Office of the Executive Secretary denied this in a statement sent to GMANews.TV, saying they did not order "cases of beer" and drank "to their hearts' content."

"Beverages were served at the Palace as part of the Inaugural Reception festivities… any socials that transpired were typical of the celebrations that accompany such events," said the statement. It did not indicate what beverages were served.

"The socials did not, as the report implies, drag into the night; the legal staff wrapped up early in the evening to attend to the finalization of Memorandum Circular No. 1," it said.

Memorandum-Circular No. 1 refers to the first Malacañang issuance signed by Ochoa and released on July 1, a day after the inauguration, which declared vacant all top government positions that were occupied by non-career service executives appointed by former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

After reporting that cases of beer were ordered, the Newsbreak story pointed out that "civil service rules prohibit drinking of this kind in government premises. Moreover, ranking public officials — like Ochoa and company — are supposed to set the example."

"Infractions such as this may be considered minor, but remember the drinking sprees during the time of President Joseph Estrada? They bring back awful memories," the Newsbreak story said.

But Ochoa's office said comparing the inaugural festivities to the "alleged nocturnal activities" of Estrada was "grossly unfair."

"As a government official for nine years, the Executive Secretary is aware of such legal prohibitions and any attempt to draw parallelisms between festivities that evening and the alleged nocturnal activities of a former president is grossly unfair," it said.

Ochoa, Aquino's long-time legal adviser, was administrator of Quezon City for nine years before Aquino appointed him to his current post.—Jam L. Sisante/JV