The government should start spending aggressively using the money it obtained from foreign loans to stimulate the country’s economy and help it recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

  “Ang kailangang gawin muna ay gumastos ng gumastos ang gobyerno aggressively, very, very quickly para talagang makatulong sa mga nawalan ng trabaho at bigyan ng pera ang bawat pamilya kasi wala na talagang pangtustos ng gastos. Napakahirap talaga ng sitwasyon (The government should spend aggressively, and very, very quickly in order to help those who lost their jobs and livelihood and provide each family with money because they really have nothing to spend anymore. The situation is really difficult),” Sen. Imelda “Imee” Marcos said in a radio DZRH interview.

Marcos, who chairs the Senate Committee on Economic Affairs, said she also supports the passage of the measure that calls for a “Bayanihan 3” to help sustain the government’s efforts against COVID-19.

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto had earlier filed Senate Bill No. 1953 which seeks to inject P485-billion fresh funds to sustain the country’s efforts at economic recovery.

Marcos pointed out that the government, at this point, has to address income poverty since aside from low income earners or daily wage earners, those who were affected by the pandemic and lost jobs belong to the middle class.

“Pati na yung mga small and medium scale na mga industriya ay talagang umaaray na. Kaya’t kinakailangan para sa akin ano, kailangan itulak natin ang third stimulus package (Even small and medium scale industries are already suffering. That’s why, I think, it’s time to pursue this third stimulus package),” the senator stressed.

“May Bayanihan 1, may Bayanihan 2, pero kung tutuusin maliit pa talaga ang dalawang ito, (We already had the Bayanihan 1 and Bayanihan 2, but the amount allocated by these two laws in reality are just a pittance),” she pointed out.

Marcos said the Philippines has sufficient funds due to the loans it was able to obtain in the past few months.  It is only fitting then, she said, for the government to start spending.

“Ang daming pera ng Pilipinas sa dami nang ating inutang. Bakit hindi ilabas ngayon na kailangan ng tao? Nung nakaraang taon, sabihin na natin na may ilalabas pa, may puhunan pa, may konti pang savings, may pag-uutangan pa (The country has so much funds due to the many loans it was able to secure. Why don’t they use it now because the people need it? Last year, we still have savings, some money to borrow),”

“Naku sa taong ito, medyo gipit na gipit at ang kumbinasyon natin ngayon ay talagang mabigat (But this year, we are cash-strapped, and our predicament is more complicated and more difficult),” she lamented.

Based on a data by the Department of Finance (DOF), the Philippine government accumulated a total of US$13.34-billion or approximately P640.96 loans for its COVID-19 response as of Dec. 15, 2020. The loans are payable from 2023 to 2049, with an average repayment period of 15 years for each loan.