Pangilinan asks gov’t to account for P 20-B fund for testing

As Metro Manila and nearby provinces head into the second week of hard lockdown, the government must show how it is spending at least P20 billion in available appropriations for the mass testing and contact tracing program, a senator said on Sunday.

“The funds are available. There is no excuse for the government not to do what the law says on testing and contact tracing,” Sen. Francis Pangilinan said, citing items in the Bayanihan laws and the 2021 budget specifically earmarked for the program.

He lamented that the country’s testing and tracing efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19 remained lackluster despite lockdown measures touted as among the strictest and longest in Asia.

“It would be fatal to drop the ball on testing and contact tracing. The people’s hardships while under lockdown will be for naught if we will not be able to arrest the new breeding grounds of the virus,” Pangilinan said. INQ