Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Thursday defended the propriety of the travel expenses incurred by some officials of the Department of Justice earlier flagged by the Commission on Appointment, saying the participation of DOJ officials to international conferences is useful to the department and the government.
Guevarra made the statement after the COA audit report for 2018 showed that the DOJ spent a total of P7.83 million for the foreign travels of its officials and personnel who attended meetings, dialogues and conferences.
The COA said that of the amount, P5.5 million was spent on the travels of the same group of people.
“They are on official travels to international conferences of a continuing nature, like periodic sessions of UN agencies, ASEAN regional meetings, and bilateral negotiations on legal cooperation agreements. Participation on those international events is useful to our government and to the DOJ in particular,” Guevarra explained.
Nonetheless, Guevarra vowed “to reduce the number of DOJ officials participating in any given delegation.”
The COA report also named the 14 most travelled DOJ officials who spent P6.192 million of the P7.83 million of the department’s foreign travel expenses for 2018.
Topping the list with 14 trips was Bernadete Ongoco who travelled six times to Singapore, twice to Bangkok, Thailand, and once to Danang, Vietnam, Beijing, China, Auckland in New Zealand and Nay Pyi Taw in Myanmar.
Ongoco was the acting executive director of the DOJ’s Office of Alternative Dispute Resolution.
The DOJ earlier said all foreign travels are governed by policy guidelines and procedures in observance of conscientious spending polices of the government and that the participation of its officials and personnel in meeting abroad does not fall in the definition of unnecessary expenditures since their presence are pursuant to the country’s commitment as ASEAN member as well as party to numerous international agreements.
