‘Virtual blank check, ‘ says Hontiveros on special powers to Duterte

MANILA, Philippines – Granting special powers to President Rodrigo Duterte to deal with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic would give him a “virtual blank check” without a clear strategy to defeat the spread of the virus in the country, Senator Risa Hontiveros warned Tuesday.

Hontiveros said this was why she opposed the granting of additional powers to Malacañang as it would grant the President “unchecked powers that are open to abuse and corruption.”

“It also grants the President a virtual blank check with no clear plan nor strategy to defeat COVID-19. Paano natin masisigurado na mapupunta ang pondo sa taumbayan?” she said in a statement on Tuesday.

(How can we ensure that the funds would go to the Filipino public?)

On Monday’s special session, which lasted until the early hours of Tuesday, the Senate passed Senate Bill 1418 or the “Bayanihan to Heal As One Act” with 12 affirmative votes.

Eight other senators who were not able to physically participate in the session expressed their votes via phone patch.

Among the eight, Hontiveros was the lone dissenter.

“I am very alarmed by the potential for abuse and lack of accountability in giving the President near-absolute control over public funds in national government agencies and even government-owned and controlled corporations,” Hontiveros went on.

Once enacted into law, the President is authorized to direct the “discontinuance” of appropriated programs, projects or activities of any agency of the executive department, including government-owned or controlled corporations (GOCCs), in the 2019 and 2020 General Appropriations Act (GAA), “whether released or unreleased, the allotments for which remain unobligated, and utilize the savings generated therefrom.”

This “to augment the allocation for any item directly related to support operations and response measures, which are necessary or beneficial in order to address the COVID-19 emergency.”

“The President’s new powers would authorize him to now stop altogether important government projects and divert their funding to other uses, with little check and balances in place,” Hontiveros said.

“Paano ngayon mamomonitor ng taumbayan ang paggamit ng napakalaking mga pondo na ito, at paano tayo makakasiguro na ito nga ay napupunta sa paglaban sa COVID-19? Ano ang garantiya na hindi mapupunta ang kaban ng bayan sa mga negosyante o Chinese companies na malapit sa administrasyon?” she added.

(How can the public monitor the use of these g allocations, and how can we ensure that these would go to measures against the spread of COVID-19? What would guarantee that these funds would not go to Chinese companies or those close to the administration?)

The senator said the executive department does not need special powers for it to act urgently and decisively in meeting the immediate needs of the public amid the spread of COVID-19, which has so far infected over 500 in the Philippines.

“We cannot and should not blindly trust the use of these important funds to a government, which during this health crisis, has chosen to spend P14 billion on tourism projects, but has been unable to immediately and sufficiently deliver (personal protective equipment to our doctors, health workers, law enforcement agents, and other frontliners,” she said.

“While I am grateful that my amendment for the provision of cash transfers to poor Filipino families was included in the bill, even this provision does not require the grant of new powers,” she added.

She said that the country’s readily-available laws and policies, such as the Government Procurement Reform Act (RA 9184), the Price Act (RA 7582) and the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act (RA 11332), “has not been fully utilized in the fight versus COVID-19.”

“These laws, if partnered with a supplemental budget, already authorize the government to purchase ample personal protective equipment (PPEs), medical supplies, relief packages, and other needed items, secure that prices of basic goods will remain affordable, and impose preventive community-wide measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, among others,” she added.

Hontiveros said the exercise of these additional powers by Malacañang would be “closely” watched “to protect the public against abusive and ineffective policies.”

“These expanded powers should translate to actually help to our vulnerable sectors, such as cash assistance to poor families and hazard pay to frontliners,” the senator said.

“With these new powers at Malacañang’s command, they have no excuse to let our people down,” she added.