The total traveling expenses of the Office of the President (OP) in 2022 has reached ₱403 billion which is substantially higher than the record in 2021, according to the Commission on Audit (COA).
Based on COA's annual audit, the total expenses of President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr.'s office for both local and foreign travels in 2022 is ₱367 million higher from the ₱36 billion travel expenses recorded during the administration of former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte in 2021.
"Significant increase of ₱367,052,245.96 is due the official travels relative to the foreign summits and state visits attend by the President the year in Singapore, Indonesia, United States of America, Combodia, Thailand, and Belgium," it said.
To break down the ₱403 billion record, the local trips amounted ₱10.7 million while foreign trips amounted ₱392.3 million.
The COA noted that the OP's local travels in 2022 is lower than the ₱11.5 million in 2021.
For its budget next year, the OP has proposed to increase the traveling expenses for local and foreign trips to ₱1.408 billion.
The proposed ₱1.4 billion was 58 percent higher than the ₱893.87 million budget requested by the Chief Executive in 2022.
Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah Pangandaman first defended the increase, saying that this is justified since Marcos’ trips abroad has helped the country to be back on the track as an investment hub.
