Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 23) — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is confident that his overseas trips would provide a return on investment (ROI).
“The way I see it, you have to look at it as ROI. Do we bring something back or do we not?… For example, we came back from China with pledges of $22 billion. Let’s say we get (an) actual $1 billion, bawing-bawi lahat ng eight trips [we recoup the expenses from the eight trips]. That’s the idea,” Marcos said in an interview on Monday.
The president’s answer came after he was asked about the breakdown of average expenses during his foreign trips. Marcos said he did not have the exact figures at hand.
Marcos also pointed out that he did not only get investment pledges in China, but also in the other seven countries he has visited since he assumed office in June 2022 — Indonesia, Singapore, the United States, Cambodia, Thailand, Belgium, and Switzerland.
“Just one of the MOUs (memorandums of understanding) — napakahina naman kung isa lang makukuha natin — pero sabihin nating isa lang, bawi na lahat ng trip ko,” he said.
[Translation: Just one of the MOUs — it seems unlikely that we’ll only get one — but let’s say just one, we recoup the expenses from all of my trips.]
Marcos emphasized that rather than focusing on costs, the effectiveness of his state trips should be measured by the time and effort put into representing the nation.
The chief executive further defended his delegation during his overseas trips, saying that most of them, particularly the members of the private sector, travel “on their own.”
Progressive lawmakers earlier said they are planning to call for an inquiry into Marcos’ Davos trip to find out who paid for the delegation’s expenses.
This comes in the wake of a Vera Files report that claimed at least 70 people accompanied the president to the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.
Fewer foreign trips in 2023
Marcos announced he is cutting back on his international visits for the rest of the year to focus on consolidating and following up on the investment deals he made with other countries during his trips.
“Kailangan namin i-detalye yung aming pinag-usapan. Sino ba dito, tungkol dito, sino ba ang kinausap natin? Ano ba ang aming usapan. Dito sa lahat ng project na sinasabi, ano ba ang i-prioritize natin diyan? Hindi pa namin nagagawa dahil busy kami, biyahe kami ng biyahe,” he said.
[Translation: We need to discuss in detail what we talked about. Who did we talk to? What did we talk about? Of all the projects mentioned, what should we prioritize? We haven’t done it yet because we’re busy with the trips.]
According to Marcos, his attendance at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in the United States in November is the only confirmed presidential trip so far.
