DAVAO CITY - Members of the Bangsamoro Parliament filed a bill for the appropriation of P50 million to fund the acquisition of additional oxygen tanks that will be distributed to medical facilities catering to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
In a statement on Friday, the Bangsamoro Government said Deputy Speakers Ziaur-Rahman Adiong and Atty. Nabil Tan, and Parliament Member Atty. Ubaida Pacasem filed on Thursday (June 17).
According to the authors of the bill, it will be a "pre-emptive measure to guarantee the sufficient supply of oxygen in our medical facilities in the region."
“If realized, the same will serve as a buffer stock to contend the possible scarcity of required oxygen so that BARMM constituents will not be deprived of oxygen tanks, should there be supply shortages in the future as the number of Covid-19 patients is rapidly increasing,” the authors further said.
They said the "P50 million will be appropriated under the Quick Response Fund (QRF) in the Bangsamoro Treasury Office not otherwise appropriated, as additional funding and budgetary requirements for the fiscal year 2021."
On June 18, the Bangsamoro Inter-agency Task Force on COVID-19 has recorded 56 new cases bringing the total number of recorded COVID-19 cases in the region to 8,030 with 927 active cases. The region has also recorded a total of 6,807 recoveries and 296 deaths.