PNoy to travel light in Thailand, Brunei — Palace

Malacañang on Sunday assured the public that President Benigno Aquino III will continue with his low travel expenses policy when he makes a state visit to Thailand and Brunei on May 26-27 and June 1-2, respectively. Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said Aquino will leave for Bangkok on Thursday and return to Manila on Saturday. She said it will not be a continuous two-country trip because of the four-day gap between the two state visits. “The policy of the President is to incur only the necessary expenses for a trip," Valte said. She noted that Aquino’s last foreign trip, the ASEAN summit in Jakarta, only cost the taxpayers P4.2 million. “The expenses there were relatively very, very low compared to the previous foreign trips," she said. Aquino’s first foreign trip as president, which was made in the United States in September 2010, had a budget of P25 million. His state and working visit to Vietnam in October 2010 cost taxpayers P11.3 million. In November, Aquino attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting, with a budget of P16.34 million The President’s state visits to Indonesia and Singapore cost P12.27 million. Valte said the Office of the Executive Secretary will release the budget for the trips to Thailand and Brunei as well as the delegation list before Aquino departs for the said countries. — KBK, GMA News