Aquino flies low cost to Jakarta

MANILA, Philippines - Making good on his government's vow of austerity, President Aquino took a Cebu Pacific flight for his state visit to Indonesia on Monday, the first time that the country's head of state flew low cost.

The 8:55 p.m. Cebu Pacific flight 5J759 to Jakarta was the only one that fit into the President's schedule, his senior military adviser Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Delgado earlier said.

From Jakarta, Aquino and his 53-man delegation will take a Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight for another state visit to Singapore.

PAL had always played host to Philippine presidents, including Aquino's predecessor and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo.

Aquino has promised to keep expenses when traveling abroad at a minimum to allow more savings for the government, which is hard-pressed in trimming the budget deficit.

His state visits to Indonesia and Singapore, according to Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., would cost P12.27 million.

“The President continues to believe that we can achieve all the targets of our foreign trips without having to spend more than what is absolutely necessary,” Ochoa said.

President Aquino won a landslide in last year's elections, thanks to his platform of good governance and anti-corruption.

On top of his agenda was to adopt austerity measures to contain the budget deficit, which hit nearly P300 billion last year.

Such measures include a freeze on the purchase of new government vehicles and construction of new buildings, except for schools, as well as a cut in the budget for the Malacañang household.

The Aquino government's scrimping paid off after it kept last year's deficit below the ceiling.

The deficit hit P314 billion in 2010, lower than the P325 billion government target.

source: abs-cbnnews