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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 'Marami pa rin na namatay': Garin hits Philippines' bloated Covid debt 

'Marami pa rin na namatay': Garin hits Philippines' bloated Covid debt 

Published Jun 4, 2024 01:43 am

At A Glance

  • Citing a "lack of accountability", House Deputy Majority Leader Iloilo 1st district Rep. Janette Garin has expressed serious concerns over the government's handling of Covid-19 loans during the previous Duterte administration. 

IMG-e5449bbc912b2d016959c9e7ca655729-V.jpgIloilo 1st district Rep. Janette Garin (PPAB)

Citing a "lack of accountability", House Deputy Majority Leader Iloilo 1st district Rep. Janette Garin has expressed serious concerns over the government’s handling of Covid-19 loans during the previous Duterte administration.

Garin, raised this issue Monday, June 3 during the oversight hearing of the Committee on Appropriations on the Department of Health (DOH). The lady solon is a former DOH secretary.

During the hearing, it was learned that the government secured a total of US$2.21 billion for the Philippine Covid-19 Emergency Response Project (PCERP) and the Health System Enhancement to Address and Limit Covie-19 (HEAL) in 2021 and 2022.

“So if you translate that to pesos, considering the P51 conversion rate (in 2021), that’s tantamount to P112,719,180,000. But because the conversion rate has increased, nagkaroon na ‘yan na instead of P112.7 billion, naging P129.3 billion na siya. Ganun po kalaki ang utang natin,” Garin said.

(Instead of P112.7 billion, it has bloated to P129.3 billion. That's how big our debt is.)

She continued, “Pero marami pa rin na namatay, maraming healthcare workers ang hindi nababayaran, maraming hospital ang hindi nare-reimburse at hindi rin natin ma-account kung ‘yung mga binili natin ay talagang nagamit.”

(But a lot of people still died, a lot of healthcare workers weren't paid, a lot of hospitals weren't reimbursed, and we failed to account for the usage of the items that we bought.)

Garin described the huge debt as a "burden on the public".

The Covid-19 pandemic hit the country in early 2020, or just past the midpoint of former president Rodrigo Duterte's term.

Related Tags

Janette Garin Debt Department of Health (DOH) Rodrigo Duterte
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