Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla (Courtesy: PNP-PIO)
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has restructured the approval process for foreign travel requests of local government officials and employees following a Malacañang directive authorizing Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla to further delegate the authority.
Administrative Order No. 47, s. 2026 authorizes Remulla to delegate the approval of foreign travel requests of local officials and employees, which he has now vested on DILG regional directors for certain circumstances.
Previously, the authority delegated by the President was vested in the DILG Secretary.
Under DILG Circular No. 2026-017, the Secretary remains the approving authority for all official and unofficial foreign travel of provincial governors, mayors of highly urbanized cities and independent component cities, and the mayor of Pateros.
The Secretary will also approve foreign travel requests of provincial, city and municipal elective officials when the trip exceeds three months or takes place during an emergency or crisis.
For official trips lasting three months or less and undertaken outside an emergency or crisis, DILG regional directors are authorized to approve the foreign travel of provincial, city and municipal elective officials.
Regional directors will also act on official and unofficial foreign travel requests of appointive officials and employees of the same local governments when the trip exceeds three months or occurs during an emergency or crisis.
For barangays in component cities and municipalities, DILG provincial directors are authorized to approve official and unofficial foreign travel of elective and appointive officials when the trip exceeds three months or takes place during an emergency or crisis.
For barangays in highly urbanized and independent component cities, such requests will be acted upon by the DILG city director.
The revised approval mechanism took effect Sept. 7, 2026.
The DILG continues to process applications through its Foreign Travel Authority Online System, where applicants can submit the required documents electronically.The new mechanism decentralizes the processing of certain foreign travel requests while retaining the Secretary’s approval authority over specified local officials and travel circumstances.