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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Terry Ridon gives advice to Paolo Duterte amid reported plan to travel to 17 country-territories

Terry Ridon gives advice to Paolo Duterte amid reported plan to travel to 17 country-territories

Published Dec 9, 2025 07:11 pm

At A Glance

  • Wherever he may or may not plan to go, Davao City 1st district Rep. Paolo Duterte should ensure his availability if and when he gets called by the Office of the Ombudsman.
Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon (left), Davao City 1st district Rep. Paolo Duterte (Facebook)
Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon (left), Davao City 1st district Rep. Paolo Duterte (Facebook)


Wherever he may or may not plan to go, Davao City 1st district Rep. Paolo Duterte should ensure his availability if and when he gets called by the Office of the Ombudsman.
Committee on Public Accounts Chairman Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon gave this "advice" to his congressman-colleague on Tuesday, Dec. 9 following reports that Duterte was seeking clearance from the House leadership to travel to 17 country-territories in the next two months.
"While Rep. Paolo Duterte has the right to request travel clearances for foreign trips exceeding two months, he should make himself available to investigative bodies such as the Office of the Ombudsman for any proceedings on infrastructure and flood-control projects in his district," Ridon said in a statement to reporters.
But Ridon didn't single out the Mindanaoan as far as this requirement was concerned.
"The same standard should apply to other district representatives in whose areas DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways), AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines), and PNP (Philippine National Police) engineering teams have found substandard projects," he said.
"They may be required to provide immediate and direct information on the origination, planning, and implementation of these projects," noted Ridon, a lawyer.
"Their participation in these proceedings is critical because, as we have seen, ghost and substandard infrastructure projects are unlikely to have occurred without the participation of legislators, DPWH officials, contractors, and other high-level executive officials," he pointed out.
Citing a supposed leaked letter, reports on Tuesday bared that Duterte sought permission from House Speaker Faustino "Bojie" Dy III to leave the country--a standard procedure.
"Greeting from tbe First District of Davao City! This is to requnest for a Travel Clearance for my upcoming travel to Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, United States, Australia, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, and Singapore from the 15th of December, 2025 to 20th of February, 2026," the reported letter from Duterte read.
"Rest assured that the expenses that will be incurred from this trip are from my personal funds alone. In addition, this is also to seek your kind indulgence in allowing this Representation to attend the scheduled plenary sessions and meetings virtually from the aforementioned dates," it added.
Duterte had earlier turned down an invite to attend a hearing of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI).
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