P132.3 billion released so far in fight vs COVID-19

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government has released over P132.3 billion funds as of April 9 for its response measures to the coronavirus pandemic, President Rodrigo Duterte bared Monday.

In his third report to Congress in compliance with the  Bayanihan to Heal as One Act , Duterte said the amount came from the pooled savings from discontinued Programs/Activities/Projects (P/A/Ps) and abandoned Special Purpose Funds amounting to P189.823 billion.

Of the P132.3 billion funds released, P100 billion was allotted to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), particularly for the national government’s social amelioration program.

Some P1.5 billion was also released to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to support affected and displaced workers and P30.8 billion was released to serve as “Bayanihan Grant” for cities and municipalities.

As of April 9, additional allotments and cash allocations had also been released to various departments and agencies such as the DSWD, DOLE, Department of Health, Department of the Interior and Local Government, and Department of Science and Technology.

The Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) has remitted cash balances from various government agencies amounting to P63.6 billion to the Bureau of the Treasury.

“Various agencies, GOCCs (government-owned and controlled corporations), and instrumentalities have either identified, earmarked, reallocated or remitted various amounts from their respective budgets for COVID-19 response measures,” the report states.

The report also states that the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) has donated P290 million to COVID-19 referral hospitals and approved the release of financial assistance amounting to P447 million to government hospitals, chargeable against the Charity Fund of the PCSO.

“The Philguarantee (Philippine Guarantee Corp.) submitted to the [Department of Finance] a list of real properties it owns, which may be utilised for COVID-19 projects, programs, and activities,” the report states.

The Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, or Republic Act No. 11469, allows Duterte to “direct the discontinuance of appropriated programs, projects or activities (P/A/P) of any agency of the Executive Department, including government-owned or controlled corporations (GOCCs), in the FY 2019 and 2020 General Appropriations Act, whether released or unreleased, the allotments for which remain unobligated, and utilize the savings generated therefrom 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.”

/atm