Palace rebuffs Sara over travel brouhaha

Malacañang on Thursday pushed back against Vice President Sara Duterte’s claim that her travel authority was issued at the last minute, saying the approval followed standard procedure and that she was not denied a permission to travel.

Duterte earlier criticized the Office of the President for releasing her travel clearance only hours before her planned departure, calling it a “last minute” issuance that forced her to cancel her trip.

“Thank you for the last minute issuance of the travel authority. I regret to inform you that the plans have since changed due to uncertainty as to whether I would be permitted to depart,” she said in a statement dated 23 April.

She added that her office would submit a new request and urged the Palace to process future applications earlier, while raising concerns about confidentiality in handling sensitive documents.

The Office of the President, through a travel authority signed by Acting Executive Secretary Ralph Recto, had cleared Duterte to visit the Netherlands, South Korea, Belgium, Germany, and the United Kingdom from 23 April to 15 May while on leave and at no cost to the government.

Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro rejected Duterte’s claim, saying records showed the Vice President received her travel authority within the usual timeframe.

“Based on our report, she applied for a travel authority on 14 April. Records show the Vice President received her travel authority a day before her intended vacation,” Castro said.

“She was not denied. There is no record that her requests for personal travel have ever been rejected. So to say this was a last minute decision is not accurate,” Castro said.

Castro also defended the public disclosure of the travel authority, stressing Duterte’s status as a public official.

“She is not a private individual. There are matters that the public has the right to know because she is a public servant,” she said.

She also questioned the timing of Duterte’s trip, citing ongoing issues involving her alleged questionable P6.7-billion in bank transactions raised during the impeachment hearing at the House of Representatives.

“If you were the Vice President, in the middle of a crisis in the Middle East and issues involving billions of pesos tied to you and your husband, is it appropriate to go on a world tour?” Castro asked.