DepEd ORDER No. 043, s.

2O22
OMNIBUS TRAVEL
GUIDELINES FOR ALL
PERSONNEL OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

JOEL E. CAOLBOY
OIC-Asst. Schools Division Superintendent
 I. RATIONALE

DepEd faithfully abides by the various policy pronouncements on austerity and fiscal
conservation in the Government. It is the mandate of DepEd to ensure that public funds are
expended with utmost prudence and that no irregular, unnecessary, extravagant, excessive,
and unconscionable expenses are incurred by the Government. Meanwhile, Section 2l of
Executive Order No. 77 , s. 2079 directs all Department Secretaries to cause the preparation
and issuance of internal guidelines on local and foreign travels of personnel in national
government agencies (NGAs) to ensure the judicious use of public funds, among others.
Currently, the guidelines and regulations on travels in DepEd are contained in various orders
and memoranda issued by the Department. This Department Order is being issued to
consolidate, harmonize, and update these issuances in view of the above policy.
 II. SCOPE

This DepEd Order provides guidelines and regulations

on foreign and local travel, whether official or
personal, of DepEd officials and personnel in all
governance levels and all other offices and attached
agencies. This DepEd Order likewise covers
allowances and expenses for said travels.
 III. DEFINITION OF TERMS

For purposes of this Order, these terms are defined as follows:

a. Attached Agencies refers to agencies wherein the DepEd is a member of the governing
board, such as, the Early Childhood Care and Development Council (ECCD Council),
National Book Development Board (NBDB), National Council for Children's Television
(NCCT), and the National Museum.
b. Approving Authority refers to the DepEd official designated as Approving Authority in the
existing Department Order on the delegation of signing authorities.
c. Head of Office refers to the immediate head of the unit, section, division, bureau, or office
where the employee is reporting. The head of office of DepEd officials shall be that official
next higher in rank within the same strand, division, bureau, or office.
d. Official Travel refers to trips of government officials or employees pursuant to
a legitimate government function or interest.
e. Permanent Official Station refers to the place where the office or regular place
of business/work of an official or employee is permanently located and where
the official or employee is expected to stay most of t}re time as required by the
nature and the duties and responsibilities of the position of such official or
employee.
f. Personal Travel refers to private trips of government officials or employees for
a purely personal purpose and undertaken without cost to the government.
g. Recommending Authority refers to the DepEd official designated in the
existing Department Order on the delegation of signing authorities to
recommend approval to the Approving Authority.
h. Transportation Expenses refers to the actual fares of the authorized modes of
transportation (e.g. land, sea, and air) for local and foreign travels from the
permanent official station to the destination or place of assignment and back.
i. Travel Authority refers to an Order in writing issued by the Approving
Authority allowing an official or employee of the DepEd to proceed to a
specific place or location outside of her permanent official station for a
specific period of time to perform a given assignment.
 IV. OFFICIAL TRAVEL

A. General Guidelines

1. Authorized official travel. No official foreign or local travel shall be authorized unless it satisfies the following
minimum conditions:
a. The trip is highly relevant to basic education, and in the case of foreign official travels, the trip is for the purpose
of complying with an international commitment/ contractual obligation;
b. The trip is essential to the effective performance of an official or employee's mandate or functions;
c. The projected expenses for the trip are not excessive or involve minimum expenditure;
d. The presence of the official or employee is critical to the outcome of the meeting, conference, seminar,
consultation, or any official activity to be undertaken;
e. The absence of the official or employee from the Permanent Official Station will not hamper the operational
efficiency of his office; and
f. The expenses to be incurred in the trip is included in the approved Work and Financial Plan of the office or unit
concerned.
2. Alternatives to Travel. All officials authorized to approve local or foreign travels are
required, as far as practicable, to minimize official travel. Hence, all forms of communication,
such as but not limited to, teleconferencing and videoconferencing or submission of briefs and
position papers, must be explored or considered first as alternatives to travel.

3. Written Justification. For the purpose of the two immediately preceding provisions, the
DepEd official or employee requesting authority to travel must attach to the appropriate travel
authority request form a written justification, addressed to the Approving Authority and noted
by the Recommending Authority, explaining how the trip satisfies the minimum conditions
provided in the first paragraph of this section and why alternatives to travel are insufficient for
the purpose.
If the official travel of teaching personnel is to be undertaken
during school days, the written justification shall also
explain:
a.Why the travel has to be undertaken during school days;
b.What the expected benefit are from the travel; and
c.How the expected benefits can compensate for the loss in
instructional or supervisory time.
4. Unauthorized travel. The following individuals shall not be issued
Travel Authorities and shall not be entitled to government funding
for such trips:
a. Private individuals; and
b. Consultants and/or those engaged by the DepEd by way of
contract of service, except when the travel is required for the
performance or completion of deliverables in the contract of
service, or in highly meritorious circumstances (e.g. unavailability
of qualified employees in highly technical or specialized fields)
and upon written justification submitted to the Approving
Authority.
5. Prohibitions and Conditions
a. All forms of travel junkets are strictly prohibited. The taking of a personal leave
immediately before or after the official activity is highly discouraged. If travel
circumstances, such as the nature of activity, purpose and itinerary, indicate that the trip is
mainly intended for personal purposes, no part thereof shall be considered official.
b. Trips, which, by their very nature, are obviously for personal reasons but are nevertheless
presented as official in the guise of so called "observation, goodwill, or study tour" or
"workshop / seminar" shall not be allowed, unless such trips are to be undertaken while on
leave of absence
c. No official or personal travel of DepEd officials and employees shall be funded directly
or indirectly, fully or partially, by private individuals or entities, including suppliers and
contractors, with pending request/s or application/ s or future dealings with any schools,
SDOs, ROs, Bureaus/Services or office of the DepEd.
This prohibition applies to invitations to travel purportedly to
undertake study or assessment of the proponents' capabilities as such
contractors or suppliers.

d. The Approving Authority shall ensure that a skeletal workforce is

maintained in the office or Permanent Official Station at all times, and
travels which entail the absence of a majority of personnel of any
office/s shall be prohibited.
6.Reportorial Requirements
a. Within one (1) calendar month after returning to the Permanent Official
Station, every personnel authorized to travel under this Order shall submit to the
head of the agency a report on the travel, which shall include matters or issues
discussed, recommendations, and next steps.

For official foreign travels, a post-travel report shall be submitted containing the following elements:

i. Brief description and background of the host organization and activity;

ii. Objectives of the activity;
iii. Preparations made for the activity;
iv. Highlight of the activity/ participation in the activity;
v. Critical inputs/ contribution of participant in the activity;
vi. Merits/ benefits gained by the participants, his/her office and DepEd and substantive policy recommendation.
vii. Commitments made and/ or subsequent responsibilities of the participant in relation to the activity/ post-travel
actions/ inter-agency cooperation needed;
 b. In case of participation in an international conference or convention in
which the Philippines is represented by a delegation, a report of the delegation
shall be submitted to the Office of the President (OP) through the Department
Secretary or those of equivalent rank from whose department the head of
delegation belongs, copy furnished the Secretary of the DFA, not later than one
(l) calendar month after the closing of the conference or convention. Any
member of the delegation may also submit a supplementary report
B. Specific Guidelines on Foreign Official Travel

1. Types of Foreign Official Travels. In addition to the conditions provided in paragraph IV.A.1. of this
Department Order, only the following foreign travels may be allowed:

a. International conferences or meetings to which the Philippine government has commitments, or to

undertake official missions or assignments which cannot be assigned to government officials posted
abroad;
b. b. Scholarships, fellowships, trainings, and studies abroad which are grant-funded or undertaken at
minimal cost to NGAs, including SUCs, GOCCs, GFIs, and LGUs; and
c. Invitations for speaking engagements or receiving of awards from foreign governments/institutions or
international agencies/organizations as defined under international law, whether fully or partially
funded by the government, upon endorsement to the DFA.

In case of trips involving delegations, the authorized Approving Authority shall ensure that the number of
participants is kept to the barest minimum and the role of each member in the delegation is clearly specified and
justified in the travel application or proposal.
2. Pre-Departure

All ministerial meetings shall be attended by the Secretary unless an Undersecretar5z or

Assistant Secretary is designated to represent him/her' Attendance by the representative or
duly designated delegate of the Secretary in ministerial meetings and other international
commitments shall be authorized to have one (l) or two (2) stall personnel to backstop
him/her, the staff/s may either be from the International Cooperation Office (ICO) or from
offices whose functional designation and assignment are the same or related to the agenda of
the international meeting.

The awarding of scholarships, fellowship and training grants shall at all times conform to
the policy of transparency, accountability, equitable distribution and eligibility and shall be
guided by the existing procedures/ process set by the Scholarship Committee of the
Department.
For other official foreign travels, the ICO shall clear all invitations to seminars/
activities/ events/ scholarships that will be held abroad except those that are
sourced by officials/ employees in their personal capacity. The ICO, with the
concerned Undersecretary or Assistant Secretary shall identify and recommend
representatives and/ or delegates for the Secretary’s approval. For foreign
official travels involving field personnel and teachers, Regional Directors and
Superintendents shall nominate, evaluate and recommend the travel requests of
their respective personnel prior to endorsement to the Central Office.
Priority in assigning foreign travels shall be given to those who are qualified, with expertise
and have had the least number of official travels in the past five (5) years, except in the
following cases:
a. The organizers set specific requirements as to the qualifications of the participants
b. The-organizers specifically requested an employee/official due to suitability and/ or
previous arrangements; and
c. Nature of the activity which will lead the Department to consider the suitability of the
participant based on position; actual duties and responsibilities; task delegated to him/ her
by the Department; expertise; expected inputs/ outputs; or follow through activities.

Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions, the Secretar5r shall not be precluded from
nominating delegates and/or representatives to official foreign travels in order to ensure the
substantial benefit of the Department from the activity.
3. Unauthorized official foreign travels. No travel authority shall be issued to:

a. Any official or employee who has a pending administrative case;

b. Any official or employee who is due to retire within one (1) year from the
date of the foreign travel;
c. Any official or employee whose previous travel has not been liquidated and
cleared; and
d. Any official or employee who has not yet complied with the reportorial
requirement for any previous travel/s.
4. Approving Authority
a. The DepEd Secretary shall secure authority from the Office of the President for official
foreign travel.
b. The foreign official travel of other DepEd officials and employees shall be approved by
the DepEd Secretary, upon the recommendation of the following:
c. Clothing allowance shall be granted to personnel on foreign travel in tropical countries or
temperate countries for the period coinciding with the summer and spring seasons, regardless
of the nature of travel, if the travel will last for more than one (l) month. The clothing
allowance shall be granted on pro-rated basis, as follows:

Provided, however, that the clothing allowance in connection with study trips to tropical
countries shall not exceed US$300.00.
ii. When the travel to temperate countries, regardless of the nature of travel,
coincides with the autumn or winter seasons, the clothing allowance shall be
granted as follows:
c. Travel authority is hereby granted to all Regional Directors, Assistant Regional
Directors and Schools Division Superintendents, including officers-in-charge of
said positions, upon invitation of the secretariat concerned, to attend National
Management Committee Meetings and Regional Coordination Meetings. Hence,
the issuance of individual travel authorities shall not be required.

Said travels are considered absolutely necessary in the performance of their

assignments, thus, claims for reimbursement of actual accommodation expenses
are authorized, subject to the other conditions and requirements specified herein.
DepEd ORDER No. 046, s. 2O22
AMENDMENTS TO DEPED
ORDER NO. 043, S. 2022 (Omnibus
Travel Guidelines for All Personnel of
the Department of Education)