PNS — PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III intends to keep the Porsche luxury sports car that he has bought despite the continuing controversy it has stirred, a Palace official said Tuesday.
The President sparked an uproar earlier this month when he acknowledged that he had bought a “third-hand” Porsche for P4.5 million, a move critics said was a sign of extravagance and an unnecessary flaunting of wealth amid the massive poverty in the country.
None of the critics accused the President of anything illegal, but they said his “expensive toy” was insensitive to the plight of the poor Filipinos who continued to struggle to survive.
Even the international news organizations and blogs have picked up the story of the Porsche owned by the President, an official who has always been known for his frugality.
Deputy Presidential Spokesman Abigail Valte said Mr. Aquino had not said anything about selling the car.
“As far as I am aware, the President has not mentioned anything about disposing of his purchase,” Valte said.
She insisted that Mr. Aquino had done nothing wrong.
“We maintain that what the President does with his personal funds is his own [business],” Valte said.
She declined to say where Mr. Aquino parked his Porsche.
“I cannot tell you that,” she said.
In a radio interview Tuesday night, Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said that since President Aquino had just bought the car, it was likely that he would keep it—at least for now.
Earlier, Malacañang said President Aquino bought the Porsche 911 Turbo with P4.5 million of his own money, and then sold his old BMW X5.
Mr. Aquino said he was at least entitled to experience the rush of driving a sports car while he still could.
Valte sidestepped former Senator Ernesto Maceda’s comment that Mr. Aquino had paid more than P4.5 million for the car.
In his column, Maceda said that, according to Porsche dealers, the going price for a second-hand Porsche Carrera 911 Turbo, with a low mileage such as the 10,000 kilometers on the President’s car, was about P7.5 million.
“I don’t have the figures on the transactions because we never asked him about that,” Valte said.
Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago defended the President, saying he could do what he wanted with his money. What was important is that the car was not a gift from someone doing business with the President. She then compared the purchase to “buying an expensive girlfriend.”
“It’s no business of the public if you want a trophy girlfriend for example or a trophy wife,” Santiago said.
“So imagine, if you are a President and there is no girlfriend to share your life with, you can buy a sexy car.”
But Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raymond Palatino and several columnists said Mr. Aquino had shown “sheer insentitivity” to the poor.
“He burdens the people with toll, fare and price hikes,” Palatino said in a statement.
“He wants us to be calm about the increases as he delights himself with a luxury sports vehicle.”
Last month, Mr. Aquino issued a memo prohibiting all agencies from acquiring or using luxury vehicles.
He ordered government officials “to be more prudent in spending government funds, especially in the acquisition of motor vehicles[,] to maximize the utilization of scarce government resources.”