In this handout photo provided by the Malacanang Presidential Photographers Division, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte gestures as he speaks during an Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases at the Malacanang presidential palace in Manila, Philippines on Monday March 16, 2020. (Ace Morandante/ Malacanang Presidential Photographers Division via AP)
MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte will call for a special session of Congress amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis in the Philippines, his spokesperson said Thursday.
“Magpapatawag ng special session ang Presidente para ‘yung P1.6 billion na budget e maipasa na,” presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said in an interview over dzMM.
(The President will call for a special session so that the P1.6 billion budget will be passed.)
“Maraming gagawin ngayon ang Kongreso kaugnay dito. Dahil seryosong-seryoso ang Presidente na kailangan sirain na natin itong virus na ito,” he added.
(Congress has a lot of work to do when it comes to this. The President is very serious about destroying this virus.)
Earlier, some lawmakers, led by Senate President Vicente Sotto III, urged the President to call for a special session of Congress to approve additional funding for the government’s response to COVID-19 and to extend assistance to the poor while Luzon is on lockdown.
COVID-19 has infected 217 people in the Philippines, with 17 deaths because of the disease caused by a virus called SARS CoV-2.
Globally, over 200,000 have been infected and nearly 9,000 have died because of the viral disease that was first detected in Hubei, China. Over 84,000, meanwhile, have recovered.
Duterte earlier declared a state of calamity in the entire Philippines for six months to allow local government units to access their quick response funds to battle COVID-19.
He also placed the entire Luzon under enhanced community quarantine, suspending public transportation and imposing a mandatory home quarantine.