Realign P 1T for pandemic response, Senate urged

The Senate should realign over P1 trillion of the proposed 2022 budget, taking away from the government’s infrastructure projects and putting money into programs that would address the pandemic, like cash aid during quarantine and support for health-care workers, a multi-sectoral coalition said.

The People’s Budget Coalition—co-convened by the Institute for Leadership, Empowerment, and Democracy (iLEAD), Citizen’s Budget Tracker and the Makati Business Club— proposed a P1.16-trillion recast budget that would address the country’s needs during the pandemic, particularly in social protection, health, labor and employment, education and public transportation.

About P540 billion would go to a cash subsidy program wherein 18 million households will get aid of P10,000 per month for three months, according to a copy of the proposal shared with the media.

This was followed by over P176 billion for the health sector, which would be used to provide various forms of support to health workers, as well as for affordable testing and contact tracing.

The coalition, whose member groups come from different sectors impacted by the pandemic such as education, transportation, and health care, submitted the proposal to the Senate last week, according to Zy-Za Suzara, executive director of iLEAD.

At over P1 trillion, the recast fund would mean having to reallocate a fifth of the over P5 trillion allotted for next year. They have also identified where Senators can get the needed funds for the pandemic: P841 billion from the Duterte administration’s current budget proposal, 87 percent of which is meant for infrastructure projects like roads in the middle of a health crisis.

“We are not saying infrastructure is bad. We are not saying we do not need to modernize our infrastructure. What we’re saying is we need to prioritize. In the middle of the pandemic, should this really be our priority?” Suzara said in a press briefing on Tuesday. INQ