Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III expressed that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s increase in travel funds for next year is reflective of the administration’s plans but pressing concerns are now “more local.”
Under the General Appropriations Act of 2024, the 2024 travel budget for President Marcos will amount to PHP1.408 billion, which is a 58% increase from 2023’s PHP893.57 million.
“The increase in the foreign and local trips budget is reflective of their plans for 2024. If the president intends to travel more, then so be it,” Pimentel said on Wednesday.
“But he should be aware that our people’s problems are more local than he thinks,” he added.
He emphasized the Philippines’s need to produce its own goods instead of focusing on importing.
“Food production means we need to produce more food from our own land. Food importation is not the same as food production,” Pimentel said.
This is not the first time that Pimentel questioned the government’s way of handling the nation’s budget.
In August this year, Pimentel questioned the PHP9.2 billion allocated to confidential and intelligence funds, stressing the “real needs and challenges” faced by other Filipinos living in calamity-stricken areas.
“The allocation of P9.2 billion to confidential and intelligence funds while our fellow Filipinos in calamity-stricken areas suffer raises serious questions about the government’s understanding of the real needs and challenges faced by our country,” Pimentel stated.
“This budgetary decision is a huge mistake. It shows the lack of empathy and understanding of the real needs of ordinary Filipinos,” he added.
The Philippines’s 2024 national budget amounting to PHP5.768 trillion was signed by the President on December 20 where he vetoed two budget provisions related to the Department of Justice’s proposed revolving fund and implementing the government’s career executive service program.
