Drilon asks: Is insurgency a bigger threat than COVID-19?

VIRUS PROTECTION People receive their COVID-19 vaccines inside their vehicles at a drive-thru vaccination center in Manila as the Department of Health places the National Capital Region under alert level 4 due to the increase in infections and hospital confinement. —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

MANILA, Philippines —  Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Thursday asked if the government is giving more priority to funding the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) than the COVID-19 vaccination drive under the 2022 National Expenditure Program.

“Are we again saying that insurgency has become bigger and a more dangerous threat than COVID-19? That we provide certainty on its funding versus the budget for booster shots which in the unprogrammed portion of the budget?,” Drilon asked members of the Development Budget Coordinating Committee during the hearing of the Senate committee on finance on the proposed P5-trillion national budget next year.

Unlike the P28 billion fund for the NTF-ELCAC, which is part of the programmed appropriation, the budget for booster shots was lodged under unprogrammed funds, Drilon lamented.

“Unfortunately, in this proposed budget, we see that public health is not given the priority that it deserves,” the senator said.

Responding to Drilon, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said: “Why is now the budget for the booster shots not fixed in the budget but rather as unprogrammed funds, it is because at this time, the panel of experts, as well as the health authorities, have not yet determined with finality that the booster shots are proven to be necessary.”

“I had a big argument with them and in fact, the result is that it is actually in the budget. Had we not argued with that, it would not even be in the budget because they said it is not yet proven, it is not yet approved formally,” Dominguez added.

Dominguez added that he wanted to ensure an item in the budget that they could activate whenever health authorities decide that it is needed.

Drilon raised the issue as health workers who received their vaccines in March will become vulnerable to COVID-19 by October since the efficacy of vaccines lasts for six months only.

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