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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Senators doubt gov't can justify P240-B COVID-19 response budget for 2022

Senators doubt gov't can justify P240-B COVID-19 response budget for 2022

Published Aug 20, 2021 06:20 pm

The executive department's proposal for a P240-billion budget for coronavirus response next year might have to go through the needle hole as senators doubt its ability to fully spend it.

Senator Juan Edgardo 'Sonny' Angara (Henzberg Austria/Senate PRIB)

Senator Juan Edgardo "Sonny" Angara, chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, intimated on Friday, August 20, that there is distrust among lawmakers on the capability of government agencies to disburse the funds being appropriated to them for COVID-19 response.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the government would need at least P240.74 billion to sustain its efforts against COVID-19 pandemic.

Of the proposed fund, P93.75 billion would go to the Department of Health (DOH), with P45.36 billion allocated for the purchase of vaccine booster shots.

"Ang dilemma bukod sa isyu ng tiwala ay sa nakaraang mga taon hingi ng hingi ng dagdag pondo si Sec. Duque sa maraming okasyon. 'Yon pala 'di nila ginagastos lahat (The dilemma, aside from the issue of trust, is that Sec. Duque kept asking for additional funds in the previous years, in several occasions. But they always end up not spending all of it)," said Angara, who sponsors the annual budget bill.

The Commission on Audit (COA) has recently flagged "various deficiencies" in the DOH's handling of over P67.3 billion in COVID-19 funds, including low utilization and non-compliance with pertinent laws.

On top of this, the DOH did not spend some P59.1 billion of its P200-billion budget for 2020, the COA also noted.

State auditors said the unused funds could have helped save lives and improve the department's response to the pandemic.

Also asked on the executive department's request, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said he would grill officials on how they plan to spend the P240 billion.

"We’ll ask for many more bright ideas from them on how they intend to spend it considering the kind of expenditure report we are getting," Sotto said in a separate message.

Sotto said the Senate expects to receive on Monday, August 23, the Duterte administration's spending plan

Earlier, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said the upper chamber will consider the COA's audit reports in discussing the proposed allocations in the 2022 national budget.

Senator Grace Poe also vowed to scrutinize the contents of the budget measure.

Related Tags

Tito Sotto 2022 national budget COVID-19 FUNDS national expenditure program Sonny Angara pandemic response
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