Palace welcomes Senate reso to audit gov’t COVID-19 spending

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Thursday welcomed the resolution of seven senators asking the Commission on Audit (COA) to scrutinize the Duterte administration’s COVID-19 response spending, saying it does not have anything to hide.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said he would present on Monday the government’s spending in its efforts to address COVID-19.

“Wala pong tinatago ang Presidente at ang Malacañang. Lahat po ng gastos, lahat po ng pera na ginastos para sa COVID-19, napunta po yan para sa COVID-19 response ng gobyerno,” Roque said in an online briefing.

(The President and Malacañang have nothing to hide. All the spending and the money intended for COVID-19 went to the government’s COVID-19 response.)

“Sa Lunes po natin sasagutin yan, magkakaroon po tayo ng powerpoint presentation on Monday kung magkano yung natanggap ng gobyerno at papaano po nagastos yan. Para ipatunay po na wala pong tinatago ang gobyerno,” he added.

(On Monday we will answer that, we will have a PowerPoint presentation on how much we have received and how it was spent. This will prove that the government does not have anything to hide.)

Roque also noted that the President consistently submitted reports to Congress on all efforts made against COVID-19 when the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act was still in effect.

“Nonetheless, dahil wala naman kaming tinatago, we welcome the special audit, noting na talaga naman pong i-o-audit yan ng COA dahil COA po ay post-audit po ang kanilang ginagawa,” Roque further said.

(Nonetheless, we are not hiding anything, we welcome the special audit, noting that the COA’s duty is to post-audit.)

Senators Risa Hontiveros, Franklin Drilon, Francis Pangilinan, Leila de Lima, Ralph Recto, Panfilo Lacson, and Sonny Angara filed a resolution that sought a special audit of government expenses, loans, and donations made under the Bayanihan law.

EDV