By Hannah Torregoza Senate minority leader Franklin Drilon on Tuesday raised concerns that the lack of sufficient funds could undermine the government’s interventions against the threat of the novel coronavirus or COVID-19. Sen. Franklin Drilon
(Senate of the Philippines / MANILA BULLETIN) Drilon expressed his fears as he noted that the preliminary weekly report submitted by President Duterte to Congress on the “Bayanihan to Heal as One Act” is devoid of any wide-ranging financial package that would cover the needs of the health and economic sector of the country. The minority leader further noted that the Duterte administration’s response to COVID-19 is “lacking in many aspects, lacking in coherence.” “We have to see a comprehensive COVID financial package that will cover both the health and economic aspects. The Report does not show us what this looks like,” he said. On Monday night, Duterte announced that the government has released a total of P200-billion in assistance to poor Filipino families, including farmers, and fisherfolk, to help them fight the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Senate President Vicente Sotto III confirmed that the President has also submitted to Congress the Executive department’s first weekly report on their COVID-19 aid response. But due to the pandemic and the lockdown, Drilon said revenue collections are greatly affected and government disbursements—which account for roughly 20 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)—are expected to slow down. “Our tight fiscal space seriously affects the government’s capability to address COVID-19,” Drilon lamented. He added this would make the government dependent on foreign loan and aid to address the pandemic, hence, the slow responses. During the Special Session where Congress tackled the measure that would realign the necessary budget needed to address COVID-19, the minority chief recalled that the Bureau of Treasury had said that only P1.65-billion in excess funds are available to be realigned to the Department of Health (DOH). Drilon said this means that even before COVID-19 hit the Philippines, “our fiscal position is already worsening.” He noted that in 2019, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) had collected only P2.176-trillion, which is lower than the agency’s revenue target of P2.271-trillion, while the Bureau of Customs (BOC) also fell short by P30.7-billion of the P661-billion revenue target for the year. “Do we have enough funds to fight COVID-19?” he asked. “The government must brace for the worst: our depleting resources and the economic effects of COVID-19,” Drilon further said. Nevertheless, the senator said the government should speed up the implementation of the P200-billion aid to low-income households and the immediate release of funding for programs identified in the “Bayanihan” law. He noted that despite the assurance of the government, a lot of Filipino families are now complaining of hunger. “Marami po sa ating mga kababayan ang nagugutom na (Many of our fellowmen are going hungry). We need to feed the poor and make them healthy,” Drilon stressed. On top of this, Drilon cited the health sector’s need for fund augmentation so they can buy more test kits, personal protective equipment (PPEs), mechanical ventilators and other medical equipment needed to fight COVID-19 which continues to rise in the Philippines.