PGMA's foreign travels

Note: Data from 2001 – August 5, 2009; a foreign trip may include several visits/meetings (state visits, working visits, conferences, forums, etc.) in different countries/areas at a time. President Arroyo’s trips abroad President Arroyo has gone on 80 foreign trips since she assumed the Presidency in 2001.

• These foreign trips include 110 visits/meetings to 40 countries/areas.
• PGMA went to Malaysia in August 2001 for her first state visit as President.
• PGMA’s latest foreign trip was an visit to the US from July 29-August 5, 2009.

US is the country most frequented by President Arroyo in her official foreign trips.

• PGMA visited the US 15 times (this number already includes the PGMA-Obama meeting).
• PGMA visited US President Barack Obama at the White House in July 2009. Her US trip, which originally included stops in New York and Chicago, was cut short with the demise of former President Cory Aquino. PGMA flew back to the country from New York in the early hours of August 5, 2009 and briefly attended Aquino's wake at the Manila Cathedral.
• PGMA met with US President George W. Bush twice at the White House. The first meeting occurred on May 19, 2003, a few months after the Philippines joined the “Coalition of the Willing" in support of the US-led war in Iraq. The second meeting occurred on June 24, 2008, at the height of Typhoon Frank and the M/V Princess of the Stars tragedy back home.
• US President Bush met with PGMA at the Malacañang Palace during his state visit to the Philippines on October 18, 2003.

China is President Arroyo’s second most frequented country.

• PGMA visited China nine times between 2001 and June 2009.
• China was PGMA’s first out-of-the-country foreign trip when she won a fresh term as an elected President in 2004. PGMA was criticized for bringing along her family, grandchildren and their nannies during the state visit, especially since she herself had recently ordered a cutback in government officials’ travels.
• The controversial NBN-ZTE deal was signed in Boao, China in April 2007, during one of PGMA’s three trips to the country that year.

President Arroyo frequented many Asian countries/areas:

Japan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei, South Korea, Singapore, UAE, Vietnam, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait were each visited more than once.

President Arroyo has so far spent at least 310 days abroad from 2001 to August 5, 2009.

• PGMA longest trips took 10 days. These 10-day trips occurred in 2001, 2002 (US and Mexico in both cases) and 2008 (US only).
• PGMA visited as much as five countries in one trip, as in September 2006 when she crossed Finland, Belgium, UK, Cuba and the US.
• PGMA spent a total of 59 days out of the country in 2007 – the most number of days spent on foreign trips in a year during her Presidency.
• PGMA spent the fewest number of days abroad in 2004 (15 days).
• PGMA has spent 43 days out of the country so far this year.

Number of days President Arroyo spent abroad due to foreign trips Period covered: 2001-June 2009 Source: GMA News Research based on PMS, DFA, OPS data

YEAR	DAYS SPENT ABROAD
2001	33
2002	34
2003	34
2004	15
2005	16
2006	30
2007	59
2008	46
2009	43*
*August 5, 2009 was not counted as a whole day

President Arroyo twice had the opportunity to meet the Pope in Vatican City. She had an audience with Pope John Paul II in September 2003 and Pope Benedict XVI in June 2007. OP foreign travel expenses The Office of the President’s foreign travel expenses in 2007 (latest year available) amounted to P588.5 million.

• This amount is 22.02% of the total OP expenses in 2007.
• This amount is also a 630% jump from the OP’s foreign travel expenses back in 2002 (P80.6 million). This, despite the fact that the OP’s total expenses did not increase that much during the same period.
• This single-year amount is more than the sum of the OP’s foreign travel expenses from 2002-2005 (P460.9 million).
• This translates to an average of P49.04 million a month spent on OP foreign travels alone.
• OP foreign travel expenses in 2007 are more than double the amount the OP paid that year for the salaries and wages of its regular, casual and contractual employees (P260.2 million).
• The foreign travel expenses tab is one of the biggest expense items of the OP in 2007, second only to “donations", which picked a P618.59 million tab.

OP foreign travel expenses used to account for less than 10% of the total OP expenses in the early years of the Arroyo administration (2002-2005). OP foreign travel expenses began accounting for a significantly bigger share of the total OP expenses in 2006. This, even as the total OP expenses that year actually went down compared to the previous year. The total OP travel expenses for 2007 (foreign and domestic travel expenses combined) amount to P622.6 million. Office of the President Foreign Travel Expenses Source: COA Annual Audit Reports – Office of the President

YEAR	FOREIGN TRAVEL EXPENSES (FTE)	TOTAL EXPENSES (TE)	PERCENTAGE OF FTE TO TE
2007	P 588,495,232.26	P 2,673,031,416.54	22.02%
2006	P 398,447,583.30	P 2,360,211,050.53	16.88%
2005	P 154,383,308.01	P 2,547,239,222.75	6.06%
2004	P 115,980,557.42	P 2,001,409,897.55	5.79%
2003	P 109,870,203.33	P 1,635,610,383.66	6.72%
2002	P 80,625,108.20	P 2,369,349,710.86	3.40%
TOTAL	P 1,447,801,992.52	P 13,586,851,681.89

Source: GMA News Research