Expenses of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte’s Office on Local and Foreign Trips Revealed
SARA DUTERTE’S OFFICE – The Office of the Vice President (OVP) spent P20.68-million already as of July 31 for 2025 on the local and foreign trips.
Vice Pres. Duterte has been to several countries across the globe this year. Truth be told that her frequent overseas trips caught the attention of countless Filipinos and elicited different reactions from the public.
Previously, when Vice Pres. Sara Duterte’s office confirmed her travel to Kuwait, the OVP stressed that she is not using public funds for all her overseas travels. The Vice President also had a justification over her travels abroad.
According to Vice Pres. Sara Duterte, the Filipino communities abroad are allegedly “frustrated” already over what is happening in the Philippines so she frequently travels abroad. In a separate interview, she also claimed that she goes around the country to consult the Filipinos over what is existing in foreign nations that is doable in our country.
Recently, the budget division chief of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte’s office, Atty. Kelvin Gerome Tenido, spoke about the OVP’s spending on local and foreign travels as of July 31 of 2025. He revealed that the OVP has spent a total of P20.68 million already.
According to Tenido, out of the P20.68 million spent from the OVP’s budget for travels, a total of P13.207 million was used for the local trips while the P7.473 million was for foreign travels. Based on the report, the total amount covered only the expenses for the security and civilian personnel of the Vice President’s Office.
“More or less around P20 million has been obligated for the travels of the OVP, including the expenses of the security personnel and the civilian personnel,” the OVP budget division Chief said.
Atty. Kelvin Gerome Tenido further expressed that the P13.207 million spent is around 40% of the total allocation for the 2025 budget of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte’s office for local trips while the P7 million for foreign travels was around 25% of the total budget allocated for foreign travels of the OVP this year.
Furthermore, based on the report, OVP assistant chief of staff Lemuel Ortonio clarified that Vice Pres. Sara Duterte is paying for her own personal expenses when she is traveling abroad. Ortonio also stressed that all overseas trips of the Vice President were covered by a travel authority.
Previously, amid the criticisms and questions, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte claimed that she does not like traveling at all except for the holidays.