Dateline Los Angeles, California, June 20, 2009 (As Updated) 

P hilippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her husband, First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, and an entourage of senior government Filipino Cabinet officials, congressional leaders and some 30 members of the Presidential Security Command, were in Los Angeles, California. They had breakfast today, June 20, 2009, with some 300 Filipino-American community leaders, who hailed mostly from Pampanga, at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel at the Los Angeles International Airport.

The breakfast reception was organized by the United Pampanga Leaders' Council of Southern California, as headed by Chito Mandap. The Arroyo party reportedly occupied several suites at the plush Sheraton Gateway Hotel to rest prior to the breakfast function.

The "private" visit was done on a low profile, so as not to alarm Filipino-American left-wing organizations such as the Bayan, the Gabriela (GATNet), the Mariposa Alliance and other pro-active coalitions. These said organizations usually make a noisy demonstration during, and picketing of, President Arroyo’s visits to any city in the United States. There were only five Los Angeles-based Filipino-American media practitioners who were handpicked to cover the breakfast with President Arroyo and party. Of course, this reporter was not invited to the presidential breakfast, as he has been declared unofficially a persona non grata by the Arroyo Administration.

Reports say that President Arroyo and her entourage arrived in the wee hours of this morning at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). It was supposed to be only a refueling stop on their way to Colombia and then Brazil, where the President will make state visits. This latest Arroyo junket probably wants to spend the Philippine Central Bank's U.S. currency holdings, as if the American dollar is going out of style or the Greenback is being demonetized. The Philippine Airlines' jumbo jet carrying Mrs. Arroyo and her entourage left LAX at 9:40 a.m. for Colombia.

D espite the claims of United States-based critics that First Gentleman Arroyo would be arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on alleged charges of money laundering and theft of American military-and-economic aid, etceteras, etc., reports said that Mr. Arroyo could not be touched by the Feds. He was said to be carrying a Philippine diplomatic passport.

More details about the latest Arroyo stop-over of a junket to the United States will be published, as soon as they could be verified by our Deep Throats. # # #