House Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate on Tuesday, July 6 assailed as “nonsensical” Malacanang’s claim that government lacks money to grant cash assistance to Filipinos reeling from the devastating effects of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Ranged against the backdrop of a P11-trillion national debt of the country, Zarate said the justification forwarded by the Duterte government is “not only nonsensical but even the height of callousness.” Zarate said the huge debt incurred by the government included borrowings supposedly aimed at financing social amelioration measures that included the distribution of cash assistance to Filipinos suffering from the adverse effects of the pandemic.

"Ibinaon na tayo sa sobrang utang pero pagdating sa ayuda ay palpak at kinakalyo ang pakiramdam ng Duterte administration. (The Duterte administration threw us deep in debt yet it has miserably failed and is callous when it comes to the grant of cash aid)” Zarata lamented.

According to the opposition leader the country’s borrowings as of May, 2021 has amounted to P7.9 trillion, while external debt reached P3.155 trillion.

"This is more than P11 trillion, but they cannot allot a measly P405 billion for Bayanihan 3 to help our suffering kababayans?" said the progressive solon.

“To date the Duterte administraion ramped up the volume of its weekly treasury bills and bonds offerings in recent months as domestic sources will account for P2.6 trillion out of the P3.1-trillion total borrowings programmed for 2021,” he stated.

He insisted that the Duterte administration has prioritized arms and war materiel but has been indifferent to the urgent needs of poor Filipinos.