The Senate building at the GSIS Complex in Pasay City. (Photo by LYN RILLON / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives and the Senate each received a P1-billion increase in their 2021 budget, while the budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) increased by P229 million, Anakalusugan party-list Rep. Mike Defensor said in a statement on Sunday.
Defensor added that Congress retained the P8.2-billion proposed budget of the Office of the President for 2021.
According to Defensor, the increase in the budgets of the two chambers of Congress brought their combined funding to P28.5 billion.
House of Representatives. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO
For the OVP, the P229-million hike pushed its budget to P900 million, which Defensor said would likely be used for the office’s financial assistance allocation and to purchase six new vehicles.
Defensor said the increases in the budget of the House and the Senate as well as the OVP were part of the P183 billion in realignments the two chambers made in the “programmed” or tax-funded portion of the 2021 budget.
“None of that amount was added to the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines that will save lives and livelihood, revive the economy and return the country to pre-pandemic normality,” the lawmaker pointed out.
Vice President Leni Robredo (Noy Morcoso/Inquirer.net)
He said the vaccine acquisition fund was maintained at P2.5 billion as originally proposed by the executive department.
“They augmented it by P72 billion, but this was relegated to the ‘un-programmed’ part of the budget that could be used only if there is excess tax revenue, a new tax or a loan,” Defensor added.
Under the proposed 2021 budget, P2.5 billion is lodged under the Department of Health (DOH) for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines.
Some P70 billion is meanwhile placed under unprogrammed appropriations, funding for which will be released depending on the non-tax revenue collection of the government.
A pharmacist undergoes training as they prepare for the distribution of the Pfizer coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at a Mount Sinai Health System pharmacy in the Queens borough of New York City, in this handout photo released on December 10, 2020. Mount Sinai Health System/Handout via REUTERS
Another P10 billion is set aside under the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act or Bayanihan 2, the validity of which was extended by Congress until mid-2021.
“We could have funded this from taxes instead of relying on lenders for money to buy badly-needed vaccines,” Defensor went on.
President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to sign the 2021 national budget on Monday, Dec. 28, according to his spokesperson.