Palace: Duterte trips to 12 nations cost  P277M, earn $5.85B investment

Malacañang on Tuesday said that the foreign trips of President Rodrigo Duterte cost P277 million, but earned the Philippines at least US$5.85 billion in foreign investments and at least 350,000 job opportunities.

"The President made a total of seven foreign trips, visiting a total of 12 countries since he took office. These visits incurred about P277 million in expenses which included airfare, charter lease, and others," Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a briefing. 

"These official trips are part of the President’s obligation to maintain and strengthen diplomatic ties with neighboring countries and has clinched numerous economic investments and commitments amounting to billions of dollars — to billions of pesos and generate thousands of jobs in the following years," he added.

Duterte in 2016 visited Laos, Indonesia, Vietnam, Brunei, China, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Peru, New Zealand, Cambodia, and Singapore. 

Abella, however, pointed out that the China trip yielded around US$4 billion in investments and 100,000 jobs through 20 agreements.

"Included in the agreements were a 50-million-Renminbi grant for the provision of drug rehabilitation facilities and another 50-million-Renminbi grant for the supply of law enforcement-related equipment," he said.

He added that the visit to Japan produced investment commitment estimated at US$1.85 billion and is expected to generate around 250,000 jobs and five government-to-government agreements, including the exchange of note and agreements up to US$184 million.

"Moreover, 15 pipeline loans were acquired by several national agencies during the visit in Japan, which includes the construction of a subway from North Avenue to Taguig and a high-speed railway from Manila to Clark," Abella said. — MDM, GMA News