THE Office of the President has requested a P1.054 billion trip expense for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s domestic and international travels in 2025, said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on Thursday, August 1, 2024.
Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman mentioned in a Palace briefing that the request is lesser by eight percent, or P94 million compared to the 2024's P1.148 billion allocated funds.
“Siguro, kung makikita po natin dito sa proposal nila, siguro may nabawasan po silang travel both local and foreign,” Pangandaman said.
(Based on their proposal, they may have reduced the number of trips both local and foreign.)
She added that despite the lesser travel budget, the President is still eager to continue his engagement with other nations and promote the Philippines to investors.
“We still continue to go out and parang kumbaga, we market the Philippines as an investment destination. Tuloy-tuloy po 'yan (That's continuous),” she said.
“Samantalang may mga napirmahan na rin pong memorandum of understanding and agreement ang Presidente. Kailangan pa rin po ng follow-ups itong mga ito to ensure na makakarating talaga ‘yung investments na nakalap natin noong nakaraang taon,” she added.
(The President has already signed a memorandum of understanding and agreement. Follow-ups are still needed to ensure that the investments we raised last year will happen.)
At present, the Office of the President’s proposed 2025 total budget is slightly lower than the 2024 budget of P10.645 billion.
The total proposed budget for 2025 amounts to P10.446 billion, which includes P2.250 billion allocated for confidential funds and P2.310 billion designated for intelligence funds. (Fred Leander Baldos, VSU intern)