MANILA, Philippines — The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has restructured its clearance process for local officials seeking foreign travel to speed up and simplify request approvals.
The policy shift stems from Administrative Order No. 47, s. 2026, issued by Malacañang, which allows the DILG Secretary to delegate presidential approval authority to designated officials.
Under the updated guidelines that took effect on September 7, the DILG Secretary retains sole approving authority over all official and personal international travel for Provincial Governors, Mayors of Highly Urbanized Cities (HUCs) and Independent Component Cities (ICCs), and the Municipal Mayor of Pateros.
The Secretary also continues to review travel requests from provincial, city, and municipal elective officials if the trip exceeds three months or occurs during a crisis or national emergency.
However, authority for shorter, non-emergency official trips of three months or less for provincial, city, and municipal elective officials has been shifted to DILG Regional Directors.
Regional Directors are likewise empowered to grant approvals for appointive local officials and LGU employees when their overseas trips exceed three months or happen during an emergency.
For village-level officials in component cities and municipalities, DILG Provincial Directors will now evaluate official and personal travel requests lasting over three months or occurring during a crisis.
Corresponding requests for barangays located within HUCs and ICCs will be handled directly by the appropriate DILG City Director.
“The DILG continues to process applications through its Foreign Travel Authority Online System (FTA OS), where applicants may submit the required documents electronically,” the DILG statement read.
“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,” it added.