Davao City 1st district Rep. Paolo Duterte has asked permission from the Office of the Speaker to travel to 17 countries from Dec. 15 to February 20 next year.
“Greetings from the First District of Davao City! This is to request for a Travel Clearance for my upcoming travel to Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, United States, Australia, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, and Singapore from the 15th of December, 2025 to 20th of February, 2026,” according to a Dec. 1 letter sent by Duterte to Speaker Bodjie Dy.
“Rest assured that the expenses that will be incurred from this trip are from my personal funds alone. In addition, this is also to seek your kind indulgence in allowing this Representation to attend the scheduled plenary sessions and meetings virtually from the aforementioned dates,” the letter added.
Reacting to Duterte’s request, Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon, chair of the House committee on public accounts, said while the Davao solon has the right to do so, he should make himself available in the event he is called by the Office of the Ombudsman to any proceedings on infrastructure and flood-control projects in his district.
“The same standard should apply to other district representatives in whose areas DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways), AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines), and PNP (Philippine National Police) engineering teams have found substandard projects, ” Ridon said in a statement.
“They may be required to provide immediate and direct information on the origination, planning, and implementation of these projects,” Ridon said.
“Their participation in these proceedings is critical because, as we have seen, ghost and substandard infrastructure projects are unlikely to have occurred without the participation of legislators, DPWH officials, contractors, and other high-level executive officials,” he pointed out.
