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Duterte bars government officials, employees from going on travel junkets

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Dharel Placido, ABS-CBN News

MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte has signed an executive order barring government officials and employees from going on all forms of junkets, a copy of the document Malacañang released Friday showed.Executive Order No. 77, signed by the President on March 15, provides new rules and regulations for official local and foreign travels of government personnel. It states that “all forms of travel junkets shall be strictly prohibited.”“The conduct of strategic planning workshops or team-building activities abroad shall not be allowed,” the EO reads.The EO also states that taking a personal leave immediately before or after the official activity “is highly discouraged.”“If travel circumstances, such as the nature of activity, purpose, and itinerary, indicate that the trip is mainly intended for personal purposes, no part thereof shall be considered as official,” the EO added.Duterte has fired several high-ranking government officials, including former Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor chair Terry Ridon, for supposedly taking travel junkets.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/12/17/nothing-personal-duterte-says-he-fired-ridon-over-travels">&#x27;Nothing personal&#x27;: Duterte says he fired Ridon over travels</a></li></ul>The EO limits the use of business-class flights, stating that officials and employees who shall not be provided with transportation by the host country or sponsoring organization “shall be allowed transportation expenses for the economy class.”For long-haul trips, or flights exceeding four hours without counting lay-overs, department secretaries, undersecretaries, assistant secretaries and those of equivalent ranks may be allowed to take business class flights, subject to the approval of the Office of the President.The EO also provides the mechanism and other guidelines for the approval of foreign travels, as well as updated rates for allowances for travel, transportation, clothing and miscellaneous expenses.According to the EO, official foreign trips partially or fully sponsored or funded by private corporations or private individuals shall be fully disclosed.“No official or personal travel of government officials and employees shall be funded directly or indirectly, fully or partially, by private individuals, including suppliers or contractors, with pending request/s or application/s or future dealings with any branch, department, bureau or office of the national government or local government units concerned,” the EO states.The EO also states that official local or foreign travels and assignments must meet the needs of the government agency concerned, and be essential to the effective performance of an official or an employee’s mandates or functions.Travels may also be authorized if the presence of the official or employee is critical to the outcome of the official activity to be attended and the projected expenses are not excessive or involve minimum expenditure.The EO recommends the use of communication devices to minimize travel costs, “provided these do not compromise national security and confidentiality of official communications.”Private individuals, consultants, and spouses and children of government officials, except when diplomatic protocol or established international practices provide otherwise, are also barred from being issued with foreign travel authorities.Last year, the Palace issued a memorandum outlining rules for foreign travels of officials and personnel under the executive branch.The memorandum, dated Jan. 3, 2018, states that no official foreign travel shall be allowed unless the purpose of the trip is strictly within the mandate of the official or personnel, the projected expenses for the trip are “not excessive,” and the trip is expected to bring “substantial benefit to the country.”Palace issues memo on foreign travels for officials in executive branch [https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/03/18/palace-issues-memo-on-foreign-travels-for-officials-in-executive-branch]The President, who hates taking long-haul flights himself, is irked by extravagant trips of government officials. Even before he assumed the presidency after winning the elections, he said he would clamp down on expensive trips of government personnel.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/nation/05/16/16/duterte-clamps-down-on-junkets-lakbay-aral">Duterte clamps down on junkets, lakbay-aral</a></li></ul>Below is a copy of EO No. 77:<blockquote class="embedly-card"><h4><a href="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/news/03/22/government-personnel-travel-allowances_eo-no-778809899420671991648.pdf?ext=.pdf">null</a></h4>null</blockquote><script async="" src="//cdn.embedly.com/widgets/platform.js" charSet="UTF-8" type="text/javascript"></script>

President Rodrigo Duterte has signed an executive order which bars government officials and employees from doing all forms of junkets, a copy of the document released by the Palace on Friday showed.

President Rodrigo Duterte has signed an executive order which bars government officials and employees from doing all forms of junkets, a copy of the document released by the Palace on Friday showed.

Duterte bars government officials, employees from going on travel junkets

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Duterte bars government officials, employees from going on travel junkets

Dharel Placido,

ABS-CBN News

Published March 22, 2019 08:22 PM PHT

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Updated March 22, 2019 10:02 PM PHT

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Rodrigo Duterte

executive order

travels

junkets

travel authority

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