3 days ago
Marcos office seeking P1.018-B budget for local, foreign trips
The budget for President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr.'s local and foreign missions as well as state visits next year has been increased to more than P1 billion.
According to the 2026 National Expenditure Program, the local or foreign missions and state visits were appropriated with P1,018,304,000. This was an increase from the P982,649,000 budget this year.
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
