MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives is set to tackle proposals for supplemental budget to aid the government’s disease control and prevention measures as the coronavirus disease or COVID-19 continues to threaten the country.
ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Eric Go Yap, who chairs the House committee on appropriations, confirmed to INQUIRER.net on Monday that the hearing on bills seeking supplemental budget for COVID-19 response has been set on Tuesday, March 10.
House committee on health chair Quezon Rep. Angelina Tan earlier filed House Bill No. 6166, which seeks to augment the budget requirements of the Department of Health (DOH) to procure surgical masks for patients under investigation and personal protective equipment for health workers.
The funds, amounting to P2.4 billion, will also be used to repatriate Filipinos overseas, particularly those in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau.
Meanwhile, Albay Rep. Joey Salceda filed a similar bill seeking a P2.1 billion supplementary budget also for the procurement of surgical masks and protective personal equipment.
In his bill, Salceda included a P20 million incentive for epidemiologists working on containing the disease.
The Department of Health (DOH) on Sunday night confirmed four more cases of COVID-19 in the Philippines, increasing the total number of cases in the country to 10.
The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses has named the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19 as SARS-CoV-2.