Let's look at the numbers:
$77,000 - clothes and accessories from high-end stores
$13,500 - dinner tab at Ruth Chris Steakhouse
$360 - women's underwear and lingerie
$1,100 - subscription to Internet dating sites
______
Total: Are you freaking kidding me?
The figures are not someone's expenditures for a lavish lifestyle but purchases by federal government employees. What's wrong with the picture? The expenses are charged to government credit cards. This kind of impudence amazes me. While reports like this is not exactly news in the Philippines, I was quite taken aback that such abuses were able to escape immediate scrutiny. I guess I expected that with the system here seemingly working, the checks and balances put in place will sift through government personnel looking for loopholes in the law. Read more of the story here - Lingerie, iPods on government credit cards