Nearly P149 billion released so far for COVID-19 response

MANILA, Philippines — The national government has released nearly P149 billion in funds for measures related to the coronavirus pandemic. 

According to President Rodrigo Duterte’s fourth report to Congress, P148.933 billion has been downloaded by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to various national government agencies (NGAs) for COVID-19 response. 

This was taken from the P246.283 billion worth of pooled savings from various sources as of April 16. 

“A total of P5.690 billion additional allotments and P7.789 billion cash allocations that have already been released can be attributed to the existing programs, activities and projects (P/A/Ps) within the FY 2020 appropriations of relevant NGAs,” the report noted. 

Meanwhile, the report also noted that the Bureau of Treasury (BTr) has certified that the amount of P100.221 billion from “excess revenue from actual dividend collections of government-owned or -controlled corporations (GOCCs) is available to fund additional requirements to address COVID-19 emergency.”

The Land Bank of the Philippines has also remitted cash balances from different government agencies amounting to P8.8 billion. 

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