Congress special session for COVID-19 response budget set Monday

MANILA Philippines — Congress will hold a special session on Monday to tackle the budget needed to respond to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis that the country currently faces, President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III said Saturday.

Sotto said the projected budget needed to help 16.5 million Filipinos nationwide would be P200 billion for at least two months.

“Projection is around 200B [pesos] for 2 months,” he told reporters in a text message.

During the special session, Sotto said Congress might pass a bill that will authorize President Rodrigo Duterte “to realign available funds to address the COVID-19 emergency crisis,”

“There is no 200B in the bill. Projection lang ‘yun (That is only a projection). Food and cash to the 16.5 million families nationwide.”

In a separate statement, Senator Christopher “Bong” Go stated that the bill will aim to “further empower and give the government the flexibility it needs to address the present health emergency.”

The special session is set at 10 a.m., with both the upper and lower chamber of Congress “expressed their readiness” to join, Go added.

Previously Sotto stated that the special session of Congress was postponed, and instead will be converted in a meeting at Malacañang with “House counterparts.”

Present in the meeting were Sotto, Go, Pia Cayetano, House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año and Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, among others.

Image: Courtesy of the Office of Sen. Bong Go.

Image: Courtesy of the Office of Sen. Bong Go

Meanwhile, there are 307 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country as of Saturday.

Edited by JPV