The recent trip to Singapore by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. was “partly official and partly personal,” Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin told a Senate panel on Wednesday, October 12.
During a Senate Finance Committee hearing on the Office of the President’s planned budget for 2023, Bersamin stated that Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong invited Marcos to join him in witnessing the return of the Formula One Grand Prix or F1.
“The President most likely saw an opportunity for him to expand on a goodwill that he generated when he made the official state visit. But of course we could not announce that beforehand for security reasons. The visit then was partly official, partly personal,” said Bersamin.
Bersamin was replying to a question from Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III on whether Marcos’ trip to Singapore was personal or official.
Members of Marcos’ family accompanied him on his last journey to Singapore: First Lady Louise “Liza” Araneta-Marcos and their son, House Senior Deputy Majority Leader Sandro Marcos.
Pimentel brought up during the hearing the significant rise in travel costs in the OP’s projected Php9,031,722,000 budget for the next year.
The opposition senator said that travel expenditures, which are up mostly because of more state visits, are behind the increase.
