HOUSE Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano on Saturday said the government would allocate a P200-billion supplemental budget for the next two months to help contain the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) crisis.

Cayetano added that government officials present at a meeting in Malacañang have agreed to allocate not less than a P200-billion package as aid in light of an ongoing enhanced community quarantine placed over the entire Luzon, the country’s biggest group of islands.





“Hindi lang bilyon o tens of billions ang napag-usapan namin sa taas but hindi bababa ng P200 billion for the next two months to make sure po na walang Pilipinong magugutom or hindi makakakuha ng gamot (What we talked about in the meeting was P200 billion to ensure that no Filipino will go hungry or is unable to get medicines),” he said in a Facebook Live post.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd, who was also present at the meeting, assured that the supplemental appropriation would not be taken from existing projects of the government and “will not affect the fiscal position” of the country.

“We are not reducing the amount [for] spending [but] we will source the funds from non-budgetary sources. This will not impact taxes so we want to preserve the “Build, Build, Build” program and all the economic programs of President Rodrigo Duterte to reduce poverty in the country,” Dominguez said.

Under a proposed bill, the supplemental budget aims to further empower and give the government the flexibility it needs to address the health emergency.

Meanwhile, House ways and means committee chairman Joey Salceda has proposed a bill giving the President full powers over the 2019 and 2020 budgets and allocating P300 billion for response and recovery efforts.

Salceda’s proposal will allocate P300 billion, or 1.5 percent of gross domestic product, for measures to respond to the national emergency.

“I expect the supplemental appropriation to cover an economic stimulus plan to boost our productivity and protect Filipino jobs in the aftermath of this crisis,” he said.

Salceda added that the President “must not be restrained in his response by the provisions that we have made for ordinary times.”

Cayetano said it had been agreed that the special session to tackle the proposed supplemental budget would be held on March 23, Monday, at 10 a.m.

According to Sen. Christopher Lawrence ‘’Bong’’ Go, “Both Houses of Congress through the Senate President (Vicente Sotto 3rd) and the House Speaker (Cayetano) have expressed their readiness and have committed to work fast in order to pass the necessary measures immediately given the urgency of the matter.”

Go is the chairman of the Senate health and demography committee.

He said the bill on the supplemental budget from the executive branch would be provided to the legislators very soon.

“The measure also aims to further empower and give the government the flexibility it needs to address the present health emergency,’’ the senator said.

The proposed law, according to Go, also seeks to grant authority to the President to do what may be deemed necessary to fund measures to address and respond to the Covid-19

health emergency, including recovery and rehabilitation.

He said it would also give flexibility for needed realignments in the budget of concerned agencies so that they can prioritize the provision of immediate healthcare needs, as well as food and cash assistance to affected Filipinos, particularly those belonging to vulnerable sectors.

“Based on our discussion, the priority is to ensure that additional funds can be allocated for immediate healthcare needs and for much-needed financial and food assistance to Filipinos, particularly the vulnerable sectors, daily wage earners and informal-economy workers affected by the strict quarantine measures being imposed,” the senator added.

The Philippines is under a state of calamity as the government had to tap into quick response funds to provide basic goods like food and medical equipment to frontline workers battling the disease.

The government also needs more funds to support poor families who have no income as a result of the suspension of public transportation and closure of malls and other establishments in areas under quarantine.

WITH REPORT FROM JAVIER JOE ISMAEL