Marcos office seeking P1.018-B budget for local, foreign trips

More than P1 billion has been allocated for President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.'s domestic and international trips as well as state visits set for next year.

According to the 2026 National Expenditure Program, the local or foreign missions and state visits were appropriated with P1,018,304,000. This includes P982,649,000 for Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses and P35,655,000 for personnel services.

The proposed budget for presidential travel in 2026 is lower than the P1,290,352,000 allocation for 2025.

Marcos' recent trip was his state visit to the Republic of India. Before that, he had an official visit to the United States to meet American counterpart Donald Trump.

The Philippine leader also participated in the ASEAN Summit and Related Summits in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in May.

Early this year, Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said the foreign visits of Marcos had generated more than 200,000 jobs for Filipinos. He said power, renewable energy, and electronics manufacturing were the first sectors to create jobs.

The entire proposed Office of the President budget for 2026 stands at P27.362 billion, which is higher than the P15.9 billion under this year’s national budget.

According to the Department of Budget and Management, the OP will get the highest confidential and intelligence funds allocation at  P4.5 billion. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News