{"id":233367,"date":"2019-10-03T23:25:22","date_gmt":"2019-10-04T03:25:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=233367"},"modified":"2019-10-03T23:25:22","modified_gmt":"2019-10-04T03:25:22","slug":"no-paid-celebrities-in-dutertes-russia-trip-palace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/10\/03\/no-paid-celebrities-in-dutertes-russia-trip-palace\/","title":{"rendered":"No paid celebrities in Duterte\u2019s Russia trip: Palace"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the celebrities paid for their own airfare and accommodations being \u201cgenuine fans\u201d of the President. (File photo:<\/a> Office of the Presidential Spokesperson\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0— Malaca\u00f1ang on Thursday denied that government paid celebrities who performed in some engagements during President Rodrigo Duterte\u2019s second trip to Russia this week.<\/p>\n

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the celebrities paid for their own airfare and accommodations being \u201cgenuine fans\u201d of the President.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs far as I know these artistas (artists) came over Moscow on their own. The government did not spend for their fare and hotel accommodations,\u201d Panelo said in a statement.<\/p>\n

He said the celebrities were there to perform for the Filipino community before the President\u2019s arrival.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs far as I know, when they entertain the Filipino community while waiting for the arrival of the President, they are not paid,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Panelo said these celebrities have been doing the same since Duterte\u2019s presidential campaign in 2016.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have been doing that during the presidential campaign. They just happen to be genuine and rabid fans of the PRRD,\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

Among the celebrities spotted in Russia were Cesar Montano, Philip Salvador, and comedian Moymoy Palaboy.<\/p>\n

\u2018Feels suffocated\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Panelo, meanwhile, defended the loose necktie of the President during his bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in the latter\u2019s office on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Czech journalist Povel Vondro tweeted that Duterte \u201cshowed up a bit unkempt\u201d for the meeting and questioned whether Filipinos knew how to observe state visit protocol.<\/p>\n

Official photos from Malaca\u00f1ang showed that Duterte had a loose tie while Medvedev tie was firmly in place.<\/p>\n

The Palace official said the President did not dress that way to be disrespectful but because he felt suffocated by his collar.<\/p>\n

\u201cPRRD does not look unkempt. What those kibitzers refer to is the way he wore his tie. He loosened it up. He feels suffocated and very uncomfortable if the tie is tightly in place in the collar,\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis loosened tie was not intended to disrespect the Russian Prime Minister or the Russians. PRRD dresses up for comfort, he is not particular on unsettling other people. He is upfront on everything he does,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Panelo added that people who have met the President in person said that he smelled pleasant.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe President is very hygienic. His body emits a refreshing scent as observed by people who meet up close to him,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0— Malaca\u00f1ang on Thursday denied that government paid celebrities who performed in some engagements during President Rodrigo Duterte\u2019s second trip …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":222653,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-233367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-azer-parrocha","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233367"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233367\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":233368,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233367\/revisions\/233368"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}