Executive branch should release report on pandemic-related expenditures, says Pimentel

Senator Aquilino Pimentel III on Friday, April 8 said departments and offices under the executive branch should report to the Senate on its expenditures in connection with its the Covid-19 pandemic response.

These are, according to Pimentel, the Department of Finance (DOF), Department of Health (DOH) and Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious diseases (IATF).

Pimentel, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said these agencies should tell the public on their expenditures on vaccinations, booster shots, and personal protective equipment (PPE).

At present, the Senate has not received a periodic or regular report on their expenditures to contain the pandemic, he pointed out.

Pimentel said these agencies stopped submitting their reports since the lapse of the Bayanihan 1 and Bayanihan 2 laws.

In a related development, Pimentel reiterated his objection to a suggestion of the executive branch on making Covid-19 vaccinations mandatory and another proposal that workers should be required to have booster shots.

Malacañang had been prodding unvaccinated Filipinos to get the jab because there are some 27 million vaccines set to expire in July.

Pimentel pointed out that this is not a good argument because the aim of vaccinations is to fight Covid-19 and not to fight the expiration date.