Sen. Trillanes spends big in ‘travel’ even in jail

This could only happen in the Philippines, unless am shown of another elected official, in the same predicament, doing it.

This is about Sen. Antonio Trillanes, a jailed senator who allegedly has claimed thousands of dollars in travel expenses while languishing in prison on rebellion charges, making him one of the most expensive lawmakers in the country.

Despite being detained, Trillanes still managed to join the ranks of the top five biggest spenders at the Senate along with Senate President Pro-Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, Senators Gregorio Honasan, Ramon Revilla Jr. and Francis Pangilinan.

Trillanes, who campaigned and won his seat in 2007 while detained at a police jail in Manila, billed taxpayers more than 17 million pesos (365,000 dollars) for the year, including nearly 250,000 pesos for travel expenses, a Commission on Audit report said.

While it was money well spent by his staff, who had conducted outreach and medical missions to depressed areas of the country on behalf of the jailed senator, according to Trillanes’ chief of staff, Reynaldo Robles, why wasn’t this given a media mileage by the senator so that people will know that a jailed senator could do better than those at liberty?

Where was this huge amounts of money exactly spent? And why the travel expenses, for chrissakes!

Unlike congressmen, who represent a region or an area, senators are elected to represent the whole country.

The same could be asked of the rest of the big spenders. Where, indeed, did all these money go?

Don’t we deserve statements from the good senators so doubts will not linger?