MANILA, Philippines -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's foreign trips since she assumed office in 2001 might have cost more than P3 billion, exceeding the authorized travel budget allocated for her office, Senator Francis Escudero said on Friday.

?With the frequency of her travels abroad, I wouldn?t be surprised if President Arroyo?s travel expenses has already breached P3 billion,? Escudero said in a statement.

Since 2001, the senator said, the President has made at least 50 foreign trips for state and working visits, lasting at least 130 days.

"Maybe it's time the Palace tells us what we got from them,? he said.

From 2002 to 2007, Escudero said, the Palace spent over P2 billion for travels.

Escudero said the travel budget for 2007 was P300.2 million for both local and foreign trips but it ballooned to P693 million or more than double of what was authorized in the national budget.

The 2007 travel expenditures, he said, could have been used to supplement the budgets of the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (P227.5 million), Lung Center of the Philippines (P221.5 million), Philippine Heart Center (P287 million) and the Philippine Children's Medical Center (P239.5 million).

Escudero said good governance entails "proper allocation" of taxpayers' money.

The travel budget allocated to the Office of the President was P408.6 million in 2008 and P436 million this year, he said.

But Escudero said this could only be be the tip of the iceberg, as travel-related expenses could be charged to other funds.

?As an example, travel expenses of her military escorts are charged to the mother unit. So we may only be looking at the minimum here,? he said.

What was also disappointing, Escudero said, was that the President's entourage in foreign trips in the past included family members as well as an undetermined number of hangers- on.

In September 2004, the senator said, the President turned a state visit to China into a "family vacation" with members of her family joining the delegation.

The entourage also included 41 complementary staff from the Presidential Security Group and the Office of the Press Secretary as well as crews of state-owned broadcast stations, he said.

In December 2007, a contingent of close to 200 people that included more than 30 lawmakers joined Arroyo in her trip to France, Spain and the United Kingdom.

A delegation of 86 people composed of Cabinet officials, lawmakers and local officials also accompanied President Arroyo to Switzerland for the World Economic Forum in January 2008, Escudero note.

And in February of this year, the senator said the President also went on a P123-million eight-day, four-nation trip to the Middle East via the United States, with a 61-strong delegation.