Raffy Tulfo grills 'jetsetting' DENR chief Loyzaga over frequent foreign trips

Senator Raffy Tulfo on Monday night grilled Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyazaga over her supposed frequent foreign trips which he claims reached about 13 to 14 times since she was appointed to the post.

Citing information from his sources from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Tulfo raised the matter during the Senate plenary deliberations on the agency’s proposed 2024 budget.

According to Tulfo, the DENR Office of the Secretary was allotted P1.1 billion in 2023 and P1.173 billion in 2024 for foreign trips.

“Ano po ang nagbunga sa mga trips na ito? Meron po kasi akong natanggap na mga reklamo mula mismo sa mga taga-DENR. Ang secretary daw po ng DENR ay isang jetsetter,” Tulfo said.

(“What good came about from these trips? I received some complaints from DENR employees. That the DENR secretary is a ‘jetsetter’.”)   

“This year alone or starting nu’ng sya po ay ma-appoint umabot ng 13 to 14 times ang kanyang foreign trips. Although most of it were official, then if it were official then ano-ano po yon?” Tulfo said.

(“This year alone or starting when she was appointed, she went on 13 to 14 foreign trips… if these were official what were they about?”)

Senator Cynthia Villar, who defended the DENR’s  proposed budget, explained on behalf of Loyzaga that the funds allotted to the agency included four staff bureaus, namely the Biodiversity Management Bureau, Forest Management Bureau, the Land Management Bureau, and the Ecosystem's Research and Management Bureau.

“It doesn't all fall under the Office of the Secretary,” she said.

Tulfo pressed the DENR to confirm if Loyzaga indeed traveled 13 to 14 times.

Loyzaga, heard in the background, said there were around five to six trips which prompted Tulfo to challenge the DENR secretary to make her claims under oath.

“Kasi pag sinabi niyang five, nope. I don’t think nagkamali ‘yung mga source ko. Let’s put her under oath na talagang panindigan niya na five,” he said.

(If she says five, nope. I don’t think my source made a mistake. Let’s put her under oath so she can stand firm if it’s five.”)

Villar explained that some of Loyzaga’s trips were personal but Tulfo insisted that the DENR chief used her diplomatic passport in most of her trips.

Villar then enumerated the trips that Loyzaga took:

• United Nations Asia Pacific Ministerial Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction
• UN Framework on Climate Change
• UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal
• UN Water Conference- Sustainable Development in New York
• UN High-Level Meeting on the Midterm Review of the Sendai Framework

Villar also mentioned conferences in Japan and Washington D.C. which were “all official trip(s).”

Still unsatisfied with Villar’s response, Tulfo inquired about Loyzaga’s trips to Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Egypt.

Villar explained that the trip to Abu Dhabi was the pre-conference for the UN Framework on Climate Change while the Dubai event has yet to take place.

This prompted Tulfo to once more challenged the DENR secretary to be placed under oath and issue a statement, saying he is not convinced with Villar’s explanation on the Abu Dhabi and Dubai trips.

He then showed documents from his source in support of his claims that Loyzaga traveled about 13 to 14 times.

While the DENR prepared the list of  Loyzaga's foreign travels to confirm the secretary’s claim, Tulfo asked the agency what were the foreign trips’ benefits to the entire department, particularly in the regions which face different environmental problems.

“For the information of the good sponsor na first time in the history na meron tayong DENR secretary na almost every other month bumabyahe sa abroad. ‘Yan po ang reklamo ng ilang mga taga-DENR mismo sa iba't-ibang region,” he said.

(“For the information of the good sponsor that in the first time in history we have aDENR secretary that travels abroad almost every other month. This is the complaint coming from the regions of the DENR.”)

“’Yung kanilang DENR secretary ay hindi nila nakikita or bihira nila makita in person unlike the other DENR secretaries who go to the ground para makausap sila at mag inspeksyon at ‘yung DENR secretary daw nila ngayon walang ginawa kundi forum lang sa mga hotels at mga video conference at wala po talagang pumupunta sa ground. Yan po ang sumbong na galing sa mga taga-DENR,” he went on.

(“Their DENR secretary is nowhere to be found or rarely to be seen in person unlike the other DENR secretaries who go to the ground to talk and conduct inspections. That this current DENR secretary does nothing except attend forums in hotels and does video conferences, never goes to ground. This is what my DENR sources are telling me.”) 

Villar defended Loyzaga and mentioned that the DENR secretary was in Oriental Mindoro when there was an oil spill.

She also explained that Loyzaga was required to go on the said foreign trips because these are ministerial level conferences.

“She has to go and she has the approval of the president kasi may mga conference na dapat ang secretary of DENR should go at meron namang conference na pwedeng mag-send lang siya ng representative. So itong sinasabi niyang trips ay talagang she has to go kasi ministerial she has to represent the Philippines,” Villa explained.

Villar noted that environment-related conferences are usually organized by foreign countries because they are more interested in this.

“Nagbibigay sila sa atin ng fund, ng loans for these kind of projects. Parang very concerned sila sa environment kaya palaging foreign. In fact, if you will look at the funds being given to us to promote disaster resilience and this other environmental project, it’s always foreign funded. Malaki ang binibigay ng foreigners than what we include in our [General Appropriations Act],” she said.

(“They give us funds, loans for these kinds of projects… the foreigners give a generous amount that we include in our GAA.”)

When asked if there are policy reforms derived from the conferences, Villar said the inputs the DENR got from foreign conferences were incorporated in their policies and orders.

Among the policy reforms they introduced were the creation of the Water Resources Management Office.

Further, Villar said the DENR was able to gather financial and technical support for their environmental projects such as the memorandum of understanding with the Japanese and US governments, global environmental facility with the European Union under the Green Economy Program and the ADB and World Bank support.

“These are the things which they got because of their representation in the conference abroad,” he said.

Still, Tulfo told the DENR to provide a “concrete” policy which resulted from Loyzaga’s trip.

He also advised Loyzaga to just delegate these travels to other officials of the DENR.

“Baka pwede pagtuunan niyo na lang yung mga problema sa DENR...versus kayo po ay mag-a-abroad. ‘Yan po ang aking humble and unsolicited advice, base po ‘yan sa request ng inyong mga kasamahan sa DENR,” Tulfo said. 

(“Maybe she should instead focus on the problems of the DENR… versus traveling abroad. That is my humble and unsolicited advice based on the request of her people in the DENR.”) —RF, GMA Integrated News