Over P20M spent for agency travels, no public funds for Sara’s foreign trips - OVP

Metro Manila, Philippines - Around P20.68 million were spent for the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) travels as of July 2025 – the large chunk for Vice President Sara Duterte’s close-in and security personnel, the agency said.

Duterte’s office released a breakdown of its 2025 travel budget on Thursday, Sept. 11, ahead of the House panel deliberations on the OVP budget on Sept. 12.

The OVP said total allocation for international travel is P31.5 million and for local trips P31 million.

From this, over P13.2 million was spent for domestic travel as of July 31, which covered Duterte’s engagements and funds for security and close-in staff and other agency personnel.

The OVP noted that P7.4 million was spent for foreign trips – all for security and other civilian personnel.

The agency said no public funds were spent on foreign travels.

“All the travel overseas of the vice president is covered by a travel authority and did not include any public funds,” Lemuel Ortonio, OVP assistant chief of staff, said in a media briefing.

The Palace and a number of lawmakers have criticized Duterte for her constant overseas trips.

Available data showed the vice president had 12 international travels in 2025 – four of which are visits to her detained father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands.

Meanwhile, the OVP said it cut its travel budget for foreign destinations in 2026, from P31.5 million to P20 million.

“Usually it’s the absorptive capacity of the agency. It’s a standard protocol for all the agencies, I think the DBM applies the same for other agencies,” Kelvin Tenido, budget division chief said when asked about the lower allocation.

The OVP said Duterte has yet to decide whether she will attend the House budget hearing on Friday.