Increase in Marcos’ 2024 travel expenses due to reopening of economies — DBM

The Office of the President (OP) has spent some 65% of the total allotment for traveling expenses this year as of June and is set to receive nearly double the amount in 2024 due to the reopening of economies from the pandemic, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said Monday.

According to Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, out of the total allotment of P670.664 million for traveling expenses, the total obligation was recorded at P444.8 million and the disbursed rate at P444.3 million as of end-June.

Based on the National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2024, the OP is set to receive P1.148 billion for its traveling expenses in 2024, reflecting a 71.23% increase from the programmed funds for 2023, and also significantly higher than the P393.307-million actual traveling expenses in 2022.

“If you notice po, may (there is a )significant increase siya from previous years because of the pandemic, sarado po ang (the) world economy (was shut down),” Pangandaman said.

Pangandaman last week already defended the P1.4-billion allocation for traveling expenses, as she said this would cover two types of travel — state visits, and roadshows.

She said that since the country has a new administration, it currently receives a lot of invitations. She also noted that the previous administration was not keen on foreign travels.

“I think okay lang po ‘to, kasi ‘yung nga po, kaka-open lang ng economy and then kakabukas lang po nung, in fact, even global economy, and then bagong adminstrasyon, so I think kailangan po natin to put our country there,” she said.

“Para mas maraming investments po tayong makuha para po maraming negosyong makuha po tayo sa ibang bansa, kasi po ‘yun ang makapagbibigay sa atin ng karagdagang trabaho po,” she added.

(I think this is just okay because the economy just opened, in fact, even the global economy, and we have a new administration, so I think we need to put our country there. This is so we get more investments and more businesses into the country because this would generate more jobs.) — RSJ, GMA Integrated News