A Facebook page claims that Vice President Sara Duterte requested a P250 million budget for her travel expenses for the fiscal year 2027. This is not true, according to official records.
On Sept. 2, a post labeled as “breaking” alleged that:
“SARA DUTERTE nanghingi ng 250M budget for her travel expense alone for the year 2027. Grabe! Panglakwatsa palang yan o pangangampanya ba?
(Sara Duterte requested a P250-million budget for her travel expenses alone for the year 2027. That’s outrageous! Is that just for leisure trips or for campaigning?)”
During the House Appropriations Committee deliberations on Sept. 2, the Office of the Vice President (OVP) presented an allocation of P51 million for travel expenses out of its proposed P785.204-million budget. This official breakdown directly disproves the false claim circulating online.
This is lower compared to the P56 million allocated to OVP for travel expenses this year, based on the 2026 General Appropriations Act.
Meanwhile, the OVP spent P56 million on travel expenses in 2025, which covered P12.9 million on foreign travel, P32.5 million on local travel, and other travel costs of OVP personnel and some security staff during the office’s engagements and program implementation, according to OVP Director Rosalynne Sanchez.
The P51-million travel spending forms part of the objects of expenditure under the OVP’s P561.651 million for maintenance and other operating expenses in 2027. Its overall proposed budget is further divided into P220.232 million for personnel services and P3.321 million for capital outlay.
A separate P15.554 million is automatically appropriated for the retirement and life insurance premiums of OVP plantilla personnel.
The inaccurate claim emerged on the same day the House Committee on Appropriations terminated its deliberations on the OVP’s proposed 2027 budget, which is 11.7% lower than this year’s P889.236-million appropriation.
Published by FB page JIL Review TV (May 13, 2021), the spurious post received 1,000 reactions; 1,100 comments and 267 shares as of writing.
