Vice President Sara Duterte’s office spent more than P34.4 million on travel expenses in 2024, covering both her local and foreign trips, according to the latest financial records of the Commission on Audit (CoA).
The amount is separate from the P20.68 million the Office of the Vice President (OVP) incurred from January to July this year, during which Duterte frequently traveled abroad to visit her detained father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands.
The 2024 audit report, uploaded on the CoA website on 1 December, showed the OVP incurred P28.7 million in local travel expenses and P5.7 million in foreign travel, for a total of P34,425,801.58. The report did not identify the specific destinations visited by Duterte and her staff.
Local travel expenses covered transportation and related costs for Duterte, her staff, and members of the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group (VPSPG), who handle ground operations and disaster relief activities nationwide.
Foreign travel expenses included subsistence allowances and other costs for Duterte’s entourage and security detail during international engagements.
The P34.4 million spent in 2024 was lower than the P42.8 million in travel expenses recorded in 2023.
The OVP’s 2024 budget stood at P1.9 billion, with P112.6 million allotted for salaries and wages, including P94.2 million for regular employees and P18.5 million for contractual personnel.
Audit findings showed Duterte had 335 VPSPG members last year, all classified as non-plantilla employees, making up 42.9 percent of OVP personnel. The Armed Forces of the Philippines activated the VPSPG in June 2022 to provide dedicated security for the vice president and her family.
A House investigation last year revealed that confidential funds of the OVP were allegedly disbursed to security personnel, including former VPSPG head Col. Raymund Dante Lachica.
The audit also showed the OVP maintained 165 plantilla positions in 2024: 99 co-terminus, 63 permanent, two presidential appointees, and one elected.