MANILA (THE INQUIRER/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte wants to save money and will take an eight-seater plane to Singapore instead of the Philippine Airlines chartered flight PR001 as he attends the 32nd Asean summit this week.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the decision to use an eight-seater plane would mean "lesser cost for the taxpayer."

"To save money! It's expensive to charter a plane. And a leaner delegation will mean lesser cost for the taxpayer," Roque said in a palace briefing on Monday (April 23).

"The private plane is an eight-seater plane, so it's a very small plane," he added.

The Palace official said the private plane would carry the President, the special assistant to the President Christopher "Bong" Go, and some staff.

"It's a very small team that will fly with him and it's a lot cheaper compared to chartering a whole, an entire Philippine Airlines plane," he added.

Mr Duterte is attending the regional summit in Singapore on April 27 and 28.

An Inquirer report had earlier shown that Mr Duterte was the most-travelled president in his first year in office, having made 19 foreign trips.