Malacañang has justified the increased spending on local and foreign travels of the President, stressing that the country will "immensely" benefit from these trips.

Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Secretary Cheloy Garafil made the statement following a report from the Commission on Audit (COA) showing a P367-million increase on the Office of the President's (OP) traveling expenses in 2022.

The travel expenses of the OP increased from P36.8 million in 2021 to P403 million in 2022, covering both local and foreign travels.

"As everyone knows, 2021 was the height of the pandemic when mobility was restricted, with lockdowns implemented all throughout the country," Garafil said, explaining the significant rise of travel spending from 2021 to 2022.

She further explained that President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has begun going around the country to ensure that various programs, projects and assistance of the government reach its intended beneficiaries as part of the post-Covid recovery efforts.  

The PCO Chief said that directly connecting with the local governments, local communities, and sectoral groups "is an integral part of the President’s decision-making process."

Garafil pointed out that foreign trips, on the other hand, help "elevate our position in the international community."

"Aside from this, the Office of the President (OP) has received a huge volume of invitations for international events, conferences,  high-level meetings, and state visits, among others, and the OP has acceded to some of these requests, knowing that the country and the public, in general, will benefit immensely from the President’s participation in these engagements," she said.

"We reiterate that the Administration, guided by its 8-point socioeconomic agenda, avails of opportunities to generate more foreign investments in our post-pandemic recovery initiatives.  At the same time, we also hope to elevate our position in the international community through stronger bilateral ties and improved relations with multilateral or international organizations," she added.

According to COA’s Annual Audit Report on the OP, the office's traveling expenses reached P403 million in 2022, which translates to a 996% increase as against the 2021 spending of P36.8 million.

It also showed that the bulk of the increase was for foreign trips, which reached P392 million in 2022 from P25 million in 2021 or during the term of former president Rodrigo Duterte.