DBM backs 58% increase in Marcos' travel budget for 2024

MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the President (OP) requested a 57.62% increase in their 2024 budget for local or foreign missions and state visits compared to 2023. This amounts to P1.41 billion, or over one-tenth of the OP's planned budget. 

In a Palace briefing on Thursday, the Department of Budget (DBM) said the increase is "justified" because of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.'s agenda to promote the Philippines as an "investment hub."  

"[A]s long as it will be beneficial and advantageous to our country, I think it will be okay. It is justified," Pangandaman said in a mix of English and Filipino.

The suggested 2024 travel budget also comprises a larger portion of OP's planned budget than in 2023, taking up 13.23% instead of 9.9%. OP was provided with P893.97 million for travel expenses from its P9.03 billion budget for 2023. 

In other words, OP aims to not only increase its funds but also allocate more for official travels. 

Both Marcos and his economic managers conduct state visits and hold briefings in other countries in an attempt to attract more foreign investments. 

They have mainly received investment pledges to increase employment opportunities in the country. Another was to strengthen diplomatic ties by attending international conferences and briefings. 

Since Marcos assumed presidency in June 2022, he has visited the following 11 countries:

• Indonesia
• Singapore
• Thailand
• United States
• Cambodia
• Belgium
• China
• Switzerland
• Japan
• United kingdom
• Malaysia 

He attended the United Nations General Assembly general debate in New York, the F1 Grand Prix in Singapore, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summits in Cambodia and Indonesia, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), World Economic Forum in Switzerland, the ASEAN-European Union Summit in Belgium and even King Charles' Coronation in the United Kingdom. 

After his recent visit to Malaysia in July, Marcos said Malaysian companies have pledged $285 million- or P15.83 billion-worth of investments to the country. He expects the bilateral partnership to generate 300,000 jobs for Filipinos. 

The Presidential Communication Office saw in July that investment pledges have amounted to $62 billion. These came from Indonesia ($8.48 billion), Singapore ($6.54 billion), Thailand ($4.62 billion), Belgium ($2.20 billion), China ($24.239 billion) and Japan ($13 billion), the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism reported.  

However, in Marcos' second State of the Nation Address, he said investment pledges have reached $71 billion or P3.9 trillion already, excluding ones from Malaysia. 

As of July, the Department of Trade and Industry reported that only $88 million or about P4.83 billion had materialized from the investment pledges so far. 

The OP's planned budget is included in the 2024 National Expenditure Program that was recently submitted to Congress for their review. Lawmakers in the House of Representatives may reduce or approve the proposed budget. —Intern, Dominique Nicole Flores