MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has identified a total of P189.823 billion in unreleased appropriations from the 2019 and 2020 budgets that may be tapped to augment the government’s COVID-19 response.
The unreleased appropriations were sourced from Personal Services (PS), Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE), Financial Expenses (FinEx), and Capital Outlay (CO) items under the 2019 continuing appropriations and 2020 General Appropriations Act, President Duterte said in his second report to Congress on the use of his additional powers given to him to address the health crisis.
The unreleased appropriations shall be utilized to fund the following:
-Additional existing programs/activities/projects/ (P/A/Ps) of concerned NGAs/GOCCs and/or requirements for new P/A/Ps in support of the response measures of the government against COVID-19
-To provide for any deficiencies that may be incurred under the Special Purpose Funds, i.e. National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund (NDRRMF) and Contingent Fund.
“Line departments are also assisting the DBM in the determination of P/A/Ps which can be discontinued to generate savings which can augment COVID-19 response measures,” Duterte said in his 22-page report.
As of April 1, a total of P100 billion in allotments has already been released to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
This is half the government’s P200-billion social amelioration program for about 18 million low-income households.
The beneficiaries are to receive subsidies of P5,000 to P8,000 per household monthly for two months.
But in a public address Monday night, Duterte asked his economic team to source out more funds as the P275-billion allotted by the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act was “not enough.”
Luzon which is home to about half of the country’s population has been placed under lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The order effectively suspended work for the majority of the region’s people as it likewise halted the operations of public transport.
Provincial and town executives from others parts of the country have also rolled out similar measures in their jurisdictions to fight the respiratory illness which has so far infected 3,660 people in the country. Of this number, 163 have died while 73 were able to recover.