PGMN has received information that officials of a government human rights body may face a graft complaint over allegedly unnecessary foreign trips and expenses charged to public funds. At the center of the documents is the agency head, whom we will refer to as W, who allegedly charged US$10,980 in allowances—approximately ₱689,000—for a month-long trip to France despite outside sponsorship.
A referral addressed to the Ombudsman lists W and three other agency officials, whom we will call “Madam X” (X), “Mr. Y”
and “Mr. Z” (Z), as subjects. It identifies the National Bureau of Investigation’s Public Corruption Division as the complainant and seeks preliminary investigation into an alleged violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
A travel authority dated June 10, 2025 authorized W to attend a human rights summer school in Strasbourg, France, from June 18 to July 22, including travel dates. It specified that airfare, daily subsistence allowance, representation allowance and other allowable expenses would be charged to the agency’s regular fund.
But the accompanying case narrative alleges that an outside organization already sponsored course fees, international travel, accommodation, meals and subsistence.
Despite that support, W allegedly charged the agency a daily subsistence allowance of US$366—approximately ₱23,000 a day—or US$10,980 over 30 days, equivalent to about ₱689,000. The alleged charge covered subsistence even though that expense was already included in the outside sponsorship described in the narrative.
The narrative also alleges that W failed to secure the required clearance from the Office of the President before traveling. Instead, the travel authority was signed by a subordinate agency official.
The records extend beyond France. Attached schedules list overseas trips by agency officials and personnel across Europe, Asia and the United States between April and September 2025, with references to cash advances and reimbursements.
A source described those records as only a portion of the agency’s foreign travel and alleged that its budget had funded unnecessary overseas trips since 2022.
The alleged overlap in funding for W’s France trip forms part of the case outlined in the referral seeking an Ombudsman investigation, which also lists X, Y and Z as subjects.
