‘Paying tribute’: Philippines government books Donald Trump’s DC hotel for function despite concerns about conflict of interest

First came Kuwait. Then Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Now it’s the Philippines’ turn. It is the latest foreign government to book rooms or host events at the Trump International Hotel in Washington DC, riling critics who say such bookings are nothing more than attempts to curry favour with US President Donald Trump.

The Philippine Independence Day celebration set for June 12 coincides with the country’s push for a free-trade agreement with the US, against a backdrop of international criticism of President Rodrigo Duterte for encouraging vigilante killings of drug suspects.

“The Trump hotel may have some political undertones because it is associated with the US president,” Jose Manuel Romualdez, the Philippine ambassador to the US, wrote in a column in The Philippine Star newspaper earlier this week. “But since several other embassies have also held their national day celebrations at the Trump hotel which were well attended – I decided – why not do it there, too.”

The Philippine embassy has sent out 300 invitations for the party to mark the 120th year since the country broke from Spanish rule. Guests, including US senators and Congress members, will nosh on Filipino food and cocktails. The embassy didn’t directly respond to questions on whether the booking was intended to influence the president, referring instead to the ambassador’s column.

“The Philippines has found a way to pay tribute to our president,” said Kathleen Clark, a government ethics lawyer and law professor at Washington University in St Louis. “What’s at risk is our foreign policy, that it will be influenced not by what matters – human rights, civil rights or legitimate economic interests – but by the Philippines’ ability to get in the good graces of our president.”