Public funds ‘spent wisely’ for COVID-19 response – Duterte

MANILA, Philippines —  Public funds have been “spent wisely” in the government’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic without any fraud involved, President Rodrigo Duterte assured Filipinos during a pretaped speech aired Monday night.

“This money for the Bayanihan Act, I assure you that it was spent wisely. It was spent according to rules. I’m assuring you – right from the start. There’s no syndicate. There’s no, as you might say, stealing,” Duterte said, speaking partly in Filipino.

“We will be careful with the next round of a Bayanihan — is it three? There’s still money to be, well, given to the people, to the poor,” he added.

In his first report since the implementation of the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act, or Bayanihan 2, the President said over P18 billion in grants had been released to local government units to further check the spread of COVID-19.

“As of September 30, 2020, fund utilization reports from 837 LGUs were submitted to and consolidated by the DBM [Department of Budget and Management] covering 47 provinces, 82 cities, and 708 municipalities,” Duterte said in the report.