By Ben Rosario Rep. Michael Defensor of Anakalusugan party list today urged President Duterte to limit and reduce travel, seminar and other non-essential expenses of government employes and officials by imposing mandatory savings of at least 20 percent by each department and agency. Anakalusugan partylist Rep. Michael Defensor (AnaKalusugan partylist Rep. Michael Defensor Official Facebook Page / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN) Defensor aired the proposal as government moved to full implement the Bayanihan to Heal as One Law that requires huge expenditures to give the country a better chance of winning the war against the COVID- 19 epidemic. “The tens of billions we can save by reducing unnecessary expenses can be used to fight COVID-19,” Defensor said. The law provides that Duterte can “reallocate and reprogram” funds in the P4.1-trillion 2020 national budget and use the money in the campaign to contain and mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Defensor, chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts, said allocations for unnecessary spending that the government can forego at this time of public health emergency or even in normal times may be found in the P1.6-trillion appropriation for maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) in the 2020 national budget. The partylist solon added that among the non-essential MOOE items that could be cut and their corresponding appropriations are:  travel, P19.4 billion; training and scholarship, P32.9 billion; supplies and materials, P108.3 billion; and representation, or dining out and entertainment by officials and their guests, P5.2 billion. Others that could be reduced are:  communication, P10.7 billion; hiring of consultants, P29 billion; advertising, P3 billion; subscription, P4.1 billion; and donations, P41.8 billion; printing and publication, P1.9 billion; and membership dues and contributions to organizations, P2.4 billion. Defensor said.

He has opted to go on home quarantine due to possible exposure to COVID-19 infection. “These are programmed and budgeted expenses we can reduce or do away with while we are battling this pandemic. We can use the money to buy badly needed personal protective equipment items for our frontline health workers and to provide subsidy to the poor who are forced to stay home,” he stressed.

He pointed out that if President Duterte imposes just 10-percent mandatory savings across-the-board on MOOE items, up to P160 billion could be freed up immediately and used for the fight against COVID-19. He said the government could also forego the purchase of new vehicles, for which P4.1 billion has been provided in the budget, along with appropriations for construction of new buildings (P99 billion), the procurement of new furniture and fixtures (P603 million), and the acquisition of additional machinery and equipment, P67.9 billion.