After weeks of being absent from her own impeachment trial, Vice President Sara Duterte finally broke her silence on Facebook. Except she didn’t talk about her ongoing impeachment cases, but about her cancelled travel plans.
On August 18, the vice president responded to the statements made by Malacañang regarding her foreign trips and called for transparency herself regarding the travel expenses incurred by the Office of the President and other officials. She also called out alleged inaccuracies in media reports and the security threats against her. Her statements came after public reports of her scheduled Japan trip, which her office later canceled.
Duterte also reminded the Office of the President that the continued publication of her schedule “compromises her personal security” and exposes her to heightened risks. For added context, the Office of the Vice President (OVP)’s travels have been subject to scrutiny and questioning, particularly over the purpose and funding of some of her trips, and whether her absences are consistent with the duties of her role. Several trips also gained attention as they coincided with her ongoing impeachment case.
And while there’s nothing inherently wrong with Duterte’s frequent travels, her non-attendance at important plenary debates, as well as her alleged cases of betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption, gross incompetence, and abuse of power, have made it hard to justify her mostly personal trips. As public funds are also being spent on her security and staff, it’s only fair for Filipinos to ask: What was she really doing on all the travels she made?
Here’s a list of Duterte’s travel history ever since she took office as vice president.
2022–2023: The Early Trips
In 2022, her travels included mostly domestic outreach, with only one publicly documented overseas trip to Japan in September as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s Special Envoy at the state funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
In 2023, she traveled to Brunei from June 11-13 in her capacity as president of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) Council, saying that she visited the country “to discuss affairs of mutual concern for the Philippines and Brunei Darussalam.” She also celebrated the 125th Independence Day with the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in the country.
This was immediately followed by a trip to Singapore from June 13-14, 2023, for a regional education discussion with then Second Minister for Education and Foreign Affairs Mohamad Maliki bin Osman, as well as other briefings on possible scholarships and projects for the Filipinos.
2024: Germany, Denmark, and Backlash
Her overseas trips in 2024 came mid-year quit her post in the Cabinet as Secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd) and vice chairperson of the NTF-ELCAC. There was a trip to Germany in July for a “personal overseas trip,” which drew criticism as her flight happened amid a calamity caused by Typhoon “Carina.” She then flew to Denmark in December for an undisclosed reason.
2025: 17 Trips, Mostly Personal
Duterte’s foreign travels increased in 2025, most of which were personal and “self-funded.” In January, she went on a personal trip to Japan with her family and returned in the third week of February. She flew to Hong Kong on March 11 and also checked on the OFWs, then to Qatar on May 26 for a “Duterte thanksgiving.”
There was also her personal trip to Malaysia on June 10, where she engaged in an OVP program consultation with OFWs. Another personal trip occurred in the same month, but this time in Australia, to attend the “Free Duterte” rally. She later went to South Korea on July 27 to engage with Filipinos in a community gathering, skipping President Ferdinand Marcos’ State of the Nation Address scheduled the day after.
On August 15, she traveled to Kuwait for a trip that is “lawful and aligned with her responsibilities in public service,” and to Paris three days later. She also visited her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte — who was detained at The Hague, Netherlands earlier in the year — multiple times in March, May, and July.
These were all publicly disclosed by the vice president herself at a 2026 budget hearing for her office, where she also stated that she had a total of 17 overseas trips from July 2024 until September 2025. The OVP reported that a total of P7.4 million in government funds was allocated to Duterte’s security and staff during her foreign trips in 2025 alone, but maintained that she did not use public funds for her travels.
“I did not charge representation. I did not charge per diem for all my travels in the Office of the Vice President. In the breakdown of the budget for travel of the OVP, you can see there is a zero amount for the vice president,” Duterte said.
In the OVP’s 2026 budget, only P56 million has been allocated for local and foreign travel expenses, the lowest since Duterte assumed office.
2026: Authority Granted, Trip Canceled
In 2026, the vice president was granted the travel authority to visit five countries while on leave of absence — the Netherlands, South Korea, Belgium, Germany, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — from April 23 to May 15, but did not proceed. She later traveled to Qatar, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands from July 16 to 31, amid the ongoing hearings involving her use of confidential funds.
“These activities are intended to engage with overseas Filipinos and advance the Philippines’ interests abroad,” the OVP said in a statement. Duterte specified that all expenses incurred came from her personal funds.
She was scheduled for a personal trip to Japan from August 19 to 24, but the trip was later canceled. In one of her recent statements, Duterte said that “her plans have since changed,” and told media organizations to verify information before publication.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Duterte disclosed a total of 17 overseas trips between July 2024 and September 2025, a figure she stated herself at a 2026 budget hearing for the Office of the Vice President.
The Office of the Vice President canceled the scheduled August 19–24, 2026 trip to Japan after details of her travel plans were made public. Duterte said continued publication of her schedule compromises her personal security.
The Office of the Vice President reported P7.4 million in government funds allocated to security and staff support during Duterte’s foreign travels in 2025, even as she described most of those trips as personal and self-funded.
Critics have questioned whether her frequent trips are consistent with her official duties, since several coincided with impeachment hearings and one caused her to miss President Marcos’ State of the Nation Address in July 2025.
Duterte visited her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, at his detention facility in The Hague, the Netherlands, in March, May, and July 2025, amid his ongoing case before the International Criminal Court.
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