P27-B fund to address COVID-19 'grossly disproportionate', says IBON

The Duterte administration’s P27.1-billion war chest to combat the coronavirus pandemic merely repackaged existing government programs and is “grossly disproportionate” to the scale of the emergency, research group IBON said Wednesday.

The group said that the government’s “recycling” of programs betrayed its complacency in addressing the continued spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the country.

“This is just another result of the government’s overly militarist mindset where forceful action is crudely seen as decisive action,” IBON said in a statement.

The government unveiled the package on Monday, with P3 billion going to COVID-19 efforts, P2 billion from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), P3 billion from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), P2.8 billion from the Department of Agriculture (DA), P1 billion from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and P1.2 billion from the Social Security System (SSS).

The bulk of the package, P14 million, was allocated to the tourism industry.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III has said that the tourism sector was the "most affected.”

“It is unclear how this is expected to contribute to stopping the spread of the virus and also why the tourism sector was given such high priority among the millions of affected,” IBON said.

‘Recycled’ programs

IBON said other allocations in the COVID-19 response package seemed to be “recycled” government programs.

It said that the P2-billion DOLE item appeared to be a portion of the department’s existing P9.5-billion budget for the “social protection for vulnerable workers.”

DOLE announced on Tuesday that it would roll out a P1.3-billion financial assistance package for workers temporarily displaced by the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine and a separate P180-million emergency employment program.

IBON said that the P3-billion TESDA allocation was a mere recycling of the existing Training for Work Scholarship Program in the 2020 General Appropriations Act worth P3.1 billion.

“Yet trainings are presumably among activities suspended during the lockdown,” the group added.

IBON said the P2.8-billion DA item likewise appeared to be a repackaged Expanded Survival and Recovery Aid Program worth P2.5 billion.

The P1-billion DTI item seemed to refer to a portion of the department’s existing Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-Asenso, which has a P1.5-billion funding, the group said.

“It appears that most of the response package [is] just recycled existing programs and not new and additional as demanded by the suddenly adverse public health situation since the 2020 budget was passed,” IBON said.

Recommendations

The group urged the government to pay more attention to monitoring and treating COVID-19 cases, scale up public education, and ensure the incomes and welfare of workers temporarily displaced by the quarantine.

IBON said the government could achieve these goals by freezing workers’ employment status and providing continuous pay and emergency benefits as well as a P10,000 unconditional cash transfer for the poorest 10 million families in Luzon.

“The P5,000 in financial assistance recently announced by the DOLE is a good start if provided expediently,” the group said.

Thousands of Filipino workers are wary about temporarily losing their sources of income for the duration of the quarantine, which will last until April 13. -NB, GMA News