A Second-hand Denial Of The Le Cirque Dinner Surfaces

Malacanang is marking Sunday with a smile, having gotten a denial, albeit second hand, purportedly from the manager of Le Cirque Restaurant in New York about the controversial $20,000 dinner President Arroyo and her retinue allegedly artook of.

The denial comes by way of a letter Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said came from the Philippine Consul General in New York, Cristina Rebong quotes a report in the weekly newspaper The Filipino Reporter.

I’m taking this at face value.

I am surprised and mildly confused though.

If  Consul General Rebong wanted to do a thorough job (complete staff work as it’s called) of clearing up the issue, why did she simply get a newspaper clipping.

Instead she has left Malacanang to rely on the New York issue of The Filipino Reporter  newspaper as the one quoting the Le Cirque manager.

Here is that clipping:

A check of The Filipino Reporter’s online edition yields a zero search result.

Anyway, here’s how the Manila Bulletin is reporting Rebong’s second hand account.

Pictured below is Mario Wainer, the Le Cirque manager quoted in thew supposed Filipino Reporter story as nither confirming nor denying the dinner.who declined to confirm nor deny the dinner.

I’ll let our readers decide if this does close the chapter on this controversy.