Jakarta – A hotel in Cebu, the Philippines, where the President recently stayed, denied Wednesday reports that Indonesians in the presidential entourage had attempted to have the hotel rates marked up.

"We wish to clarify that no one from any organization approached us to increase the room rates for the Indonesian delegation," Maggie M. Garcia, director of diplomatic affairs of the Mactan Island Resort and Spa.

In the letter to the chief of the presidential household, Ahmad Rusydi, Garcia expressed assurance that the hotel "will not be a party to this unethical act."

The Jakarta Post had quoted a source saying that staff from the State Secretariat asked the hotel management to increase the total expenses that the Indonesian delegation had to pay, and offered to split the profit with hotel employees.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was in Cebu to attend last week's summit of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Earlier on Wednesday presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal said the President had ordered senior palace officials to conduct "a quick investigation" into the allegations.

"He promised that stern disciplinary action would be taken against those proved to commit such a shameful practice, which runs counter to strong belief in clean government," Dino added.

Meanwhile, Andi Mallarangeng, another presidential spokesman, rejected that he had denied the allegation as had been reported by the Post on Wednesday, saying that he could not comment because he knew nothing about it.

"I just said it would be stupid to do such a thing (request for a mark-up) because the rate for all ASEAN countries is the same," he said. Yudhoyono's contingent to Cebu totaled more than 100 people, including several journalists. The room rate at the Shangri-La is between US$250 and $400 a night.