OUT-OF-TOWN ENGAGEMENT Vice President Sara Duterte marks the 89th anniversary of the Office of the Vice President with gift distribution to 2,000 beneficiaries in Lingayen, Pangasinan, last week. Lingayen Mayor Leopoldo Bataoil is shown assisting the Vice President. —Willie Lomiba
MANILA, Philippines — Foreign and domestic travel expenses by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) increased further in 2023 compared with its previous year, with Vice President Sara Duterte bringing along her own security group in these trips, according to the Commission on Audit (COA).
In their 2024 report, particularly on the OVP’s financial statements, state auditors pointed out an increase of 693 percent in Duterte’s foreign travel expenses—from P1.4 million in the latter half of 2022, when she succeeded Leni Robredo in the vice presidency, to P11.1 million the next year.
READ: Sara’s trip explained, draws Leni Robredo comparison
But the audit report did not indicate where Duterte traveled abroad in 2023.
There were at least three known foreign trips that she made that year, also in her concurrent capacity as education secretary.
The first was in Brunei in June, with the annual Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (Seameo) held in that country and Duterte, in behalf of the Philippines, heading that conference.
Security detail
That same month, she also went to Singapore for a working visit, meeting with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and other officials.
In September, Duterte went to South Korea to serve as keynote speaker at the Global Education and Innovation Summit.
According to the COA, the Vice President’s international travel expenses covered the daily subsistence allowance and “other travel expenses for official foreign engagements and events attended” by her, as well as members of the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group (VPSPG) and “other official members of the delegation.”
This was the same case for the local travel expenses of the OVP, which almost doubled from P18.6 million in 2022 to P31.4 million in 2023.
Auditors noted that these figures covered transportation and other travel expenses of Duterte and her immediate staff, security detail and other personnel of the OVP’s projects division, her numerous satellite offices, disaster operations center and “other divisions in charge of ground works, implementation of various programs and operations.”
Another detail cited by the COA was the number of security personnel for Duterte under the VPSPG, the biggest unit in her office.
The audit report disclosed that out of 865 OVP staff members, more than half—443—were assigned to the VPSPG.
The OVP also has 224 contract of service employees, two presidential appointees, 81 coterminous and 72 permanent employees, 33 contractual and casual employees, six consultants, and three protocol officers from the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Overall, the OVP’s travel expenses more than doubled, from P20.1 million in 2022 to P42.5 million in 2023.
Marcos’ travel expenses
As for President Marcos’ travel expenses this year and next year, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said earlier that the 2025 National Expenditure Program had earmarked P1.054 billion—a decrease of 8 percent or P94 million from P1.14 billion this year.
Since 2022, Marcos has gone on a total of 29 foreign trips, with allocation for his travel fund growing in the past two years.
In his first year in office, he traveled to six countries: Indonesia, Singapore, the United States, Cambodia, Thailand and Belgium.
He visited Singapore twice where he also watched a Formula 1 race on his second visit.
His travel spending that year was flagged by the COA after it exceeded the P314-million allocation for travel expenses by P84 million.
In 2023, Marcos was given a travel budget of P893.57 million, which allowed him to go to China, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, twice to Japan and twice to the United States. He also flew to the United Kingdom to attend the coronation of Charles III.
The President has so far gone on 12 trips abroad this year: twice to Brunei and Australia, one each to Germany, the Czech Republic, Vietnam and Laos, and return visits to Singapore, Indonesia and the United States. Last month, he visited the United Arab Emirates. —with a report from Inquirer Research