House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro was up in arms on Saturday, Aug. 27, over the remark of Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Benjamin Diokno that it’s a “waste of funds” at this stage to give aid in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Castro, a representative of the ACT Teachers Party-list, called “alarming” the statement of Diokno on the first day of the House deliberations for the proposed P5.268-trillion national budget for 2023.
Diokno told the House Committee on Appropriations that the giving of “ayuda” must be discontinued because “we have actually fully recovered and because of the limited fiscal space".
His statement drew criticism from the Makabayan lawmaker who said that it was “anti-poor”.
“It seems that his concept of being 'fully recovered' from the pandemic is simply not having lockdowns and does not consider the rising numbers of jobless in the country, the rising cost of basic goods and services, and the 19.9 million poor Filipinos," Castro said.
"Porke ba pwede na lumabas ang mga tao, wala nang responsibilidad ang gobyerno na bigyan ng tulong ang mamamayan na hindi pa rin nakakarecover mula sa palpak na tugon ng gobyerno sa pandemiya sa nakalipas na dalawang taon? (Just because people are allowed to go out doesn’t mean the government has no responsibility to provide help to citizens who haven’t recovered yet from the failed response of the government to the pandemic in the past two years?),” she asked.
Castro recalled Diokno’s “anti-poor” stance in 2016 when he remarked that teachers were “too ambitious” to seek a wage hike. Diokno was the Department of Budget and Management secretary at that time under the previous Duterte administration.
She then reminded the DOF secretary that public funds come from people's taxes, noting that the poor and the middle class pay taxes through the excise, value-added, and income taxes.
"If the finance chief is so concerned about 'wasting public funds,' then it should support increasing taxes of the rich and should not have given tax breaks to big corporations," Castro said.
"This only shows that the 2023 proposed national budget is anti-poor. The economic managers would rather discontinue the distribution of ayuda than collect more taxes from the rich and big corporations,” she added.
The opposition lawmaker also slammed Diokno for saying the government should only give aid to those with a Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) or national ID.
“RA (Republic Act) 11055 or the Philippine ID system is not mandatory and should not be used as a condition for benefits," Castro said.
Section 14 of RA 11055 stated that "Proof of identity shall not necessarily be construed as proof of eligibility to avail of certain benefits and services which shall be determined based on applicable rules and regulations of the government authorities/agencies concerned. Issuance of the PSN and or PhilID shall not likewise be construed as inconvertible proof of citizenship."