In just 4 years, Marcos tops 2 predecessors in foreign travel budget, number of trips

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President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will see the skies once again on a working visit to Singapore from October 7 to 11.

He may yet be the country’s most traveled president in more than a decade.

His itinerary to the Lion City includes a meeting with Prime Minister and finance chief Lawrence Wong, the 24th Forbes Global CEO Conference, a visit to the Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Institute, and watching the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix.

This is now his sixth visit to Singapore, his second to the country in 2026. This is also his third time off to the race tracks watching the Formula 1 Grand Prix.

In just his first four years in office, this brings his total international trips to 47, eclipsing his two immediate predecessors, former presidents Benigno Aquino III and Rodrigo Duterte. 

Both former presidents were known to have an aversion to foreign travel, especially long-distance trips.

Marcos, who was 64 when he became President, has already surpassed Duterte in international travel budget and is poised to exceed the two past presidents in terms of spending.

Duterte, who was in his early to mid-70s during his presidency, had been vocal about hating traveling overseas. His foreign travel was also limited by COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, with some multilateral meetings shifting online.

Aquino, who was in his early 50s, also hated long trips because he couldn’t stand being without cigarettes for hours.

The journeyman

Presidential foreign trips help strengthen a country’s foreign relations. These trips may also include discussions on the country’s defense, economy, and investments.

Marcos made his first overseas trip in his third month in office. He had seven in his first six months.

The President had the most in 2023 and 2024 at 12 each. In 2025, he slowed down to eight despite receiving the biggest allocation so far. For 2026, Marcos has had eight.

The President has been vocal in his commitment to promoting the country as an investment destination to other nations.

But University of the Philippines Diliman Department of Political Science Professor Jean S. Encinas-Franco said the increase may also be a part of Marcos’ plan to rehabilitate his family’s name.

She added that it may also be a way to diversify foreign allies amid rising tensions in the West Philippine Sea.

“The Marcos administration has decided to engage more with the international community to show that the Philippine government has support from other countries. And also to show that Marcos is trying to diversify the country’s allies,” said Franco.

She also said that the trips will help make the country more visible on the global stage.

“The perception that the Philippines is out there in the world, has many allies, will always show up, or that we are always advocating for our causes or the global agenda,” said Encinas-Franco.

“It’s also important that they get to talk to their potential partners. The government gets to introduce private sector companies who are sometimes part of this delegation,” she added.

The President takes on different types of presidential trips. These vary depending on the level of formality and ceremony. (READ: Presidential trips: What you need to know)

State visits are the highest form of diplomatic visits, with grand ceremonies and meals that honor the relations of the two countries. Official visits, on the other hand, have less grandeur, and a state lunch or dinner is optional. They usually have a smaller delegation. 

Lastly, working visits are trips meant for meeting with other government officials to tackle issues that concern bilateral relations. 

Expenses in state and official visits are usually covered by the host country. Meanwhile, the Office of the President (OP) pays for expenses during working visits.

Rappler: Presidential Visits Data

Source: Official Gazette, Presidential Communications Office

So far, 27 of Marcos’ visits are official working visits for international summits and conferences. He also has had 12 state visits and seven official visits during his presidency.

Marcos had an “unofficial trip” to Singapore from September 30 to October 2, 2022. During the trip, he attended business meetings and talked about investments in the country. On the same trip, he was also spotted watching the Formula One (F1) Singapore Grand Prix.

Former executive secretary Lucas Bersamin clarified that the trip was “semi-official.”

Singapore appears to be among the President’s favorites, with six visits. This ties with the United States as his most frequent destination; two were official visits while the rest were working visits.

He visited Washington DC three times to meet with the US president and attend meetings, and once in San Francisco for the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting. He has also been to New York twice, where their family lived for some time during their exile and where he met First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos.

Marcos also visited Indonesia four times, and Japan and Malaysia three times each. These five countries alone account for 46.9% of the President’s reported trips.

Encinas-Franco said that most of the time, the US hosts the larger summits and United Nations general assemblies, which contribute to the recurring trips by the administration.

Allocated budget

Since his administration’s first year crafting the budget, the OP’s foreign travel expenses have dwarfed their local counterparts.

In 2025, Marcos received his biggest travel allocation so far at P1.7 billion — P1.6 billion was allotted for foreign trips. In the same year, his office benefited from a P720-million increase in the proposed P913.96 billion National Expenditure Program.  

The President’s 2026 travel budget also received an additional P6 million.

Encinas-Franco explained that the additional funding granted may be due to the President’s increased international appearances.

Marcos has already surpassed Duterte in terms of foreign travel budget allocations, based on the General Appropriations Act (GAA) from 2023 to 2026. The President received P3.74 billion from 2023 to 2026, compared to Duterte’s P2.55-billion total allocations for the same period.

Meanwhile, Aquino’s appropriations for his international trips were included in the office’s contingent funds.

Actual expenses

Foreign travel expenses comprise the total cost incurred by an individual or office when traveling to other countries for official business meetings, work assignments, and government duties.

Each government agency must fund its own travel expenses from its allocated budget, according to Executive Order No. 77 and Memorandum Circular No. 50. Spending should be cost-effective and not excessive, and foreign travel must meet the agency’s needs and benefit the country.

While there is no official limit for the presidential delegation, the two guidelines require the person’s presence to be critical to the trip’s outcome.

For presidential trips, a cap of two officials per agency is set. Private individuals, spouses or children of officials, and consultants are not covered by government expenses.

During these trips, agencies must allocate funds for pre-departure expenses, daily subsistence allowance, accommodations (room sharing is mandated if possible), and clothing for their delegates.

These agencies declare their actual spending within a period in the financial statements submitted to the Commission on Audit (COA), which is included in the commission’s Annual Audit Report.

Based on these statements, Marcos is on pace to eclipse the two previous presidents in terms of spending.

President	Total Expenditures declared in Financial Statements to COA
Aquino	P771,636,166.64
Duterte	P1,654,321,928.07
Marcos Jr. (2022-2024)	P1,461,250,701.76

In 2022, the President exceeded the P201-million budget allotted for foreign trips, spending P396 million. Duterte, who crafted that year’s budget, made no foreign trips in his last six months in office.

However, the president can realign expenses. Article VI, Section 25 of the Constitution states that the president may transfer leftover funds within his or her own office from one line item to another.

COA has already flagged the Marcos administration for over P14.4 million in unsettled funds for foreign travel from 2022 to 2024, covering hotel accommodations and airfare for various agencies. 

In 2025, Malacañang said that the office has recovered 55% of the unsettled funds from concerned government agencies. – Rappler.com