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MANILA (AFP) – – Philippine leader Gloria Arroyo has cancelled an order for a presidential jet amid public outrage over her alleged extravagant lifestyle during a financial crisis, her spokesman said Sunday.

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The make and price of the aircraft were not disclosed but her spokesman, Cerge Remonde, said Arroyo “does not want more criticism about her spending.”

“I am formally announcing the president has ordered the cancellation of the purchase of a presidential jet,” Remonde said.

Arroyo came under intense criticism after the New York Post reported this week that she and her officials ran up a 20,000-dollar (almost one million pesos) tab for dinner at a restaurant while on an official visit to the US.

The report triggered public condemnation and street protests in the Philippines, where, according to official data, about one third of the country’s 90 million population lives on

MANILA – Three days before allegedly spending $20,000 for a dinner in a Manhattan restaurant, President Arroyo and her entourage also reportedly spent another $15,000 for dinner at Bobby Van’s Steakhouse on 15th Street, Washington DC, a major US daily reported Wednesday.

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A report titled “Heartburn Over Two Big Meals” in the Washington Post’s Reliable Source column said Mrs. Arroyo and an entourage of about 65 people, including security and food tasters, had dinner at Bobby Van’s Steakhouse on 15th Street NW hours after her July 30 meeting with US President Barack Obama. ”

The group took over one of the restaurant’s private rooms and dined on lobster, steak and fine wines; at the conclusion of the meal, an unidentified woman opened a handbag stuffed with cash, counted out bills and paid the $15,000 tab — which included a generous tip,”