The official trip of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to the United States was a major public relations event, judging by the supersized contingent of the Office of the Press Secretary that joined the BBM entourage.
Based on a letter of Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles to Chief Presidential Protocol Adelio Angelito Cruz, 20 names were listed as the OPS delegation, including an Assistant Secretary, project officer, co-project officer, two MAROs; three undersecretaries; two assistant secretaries and an assortment of other officials.
Angeles’ letter showed one Assistant Secretary stayed the longest in the OPS delegation as he stayed from 9 to 25 September, while two other members were in New York from 12 to 25 September.
Angeles and another official extended their stay until 27 September.
The letter requested roundtrip international airfares, pre-travel expenses, and daily subsistence allowances.
With such a large team, BBM should not worry about the OPS missing a beat in terms of giving the public a fill of their need for information during the six-day sojourn.
Yet, Angeles missed the fact that Marcos was not the only head of state that US President Joe Biden met at the sideline of the United Nations General Assembly.
“I understand a lot of requests had been made to the US President — that it is significant that he spoke only with President Marcos on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly,” Angeles said.
It turned out she understood wrong and took back her statement the next day.