Duterte’s televised address also part of his weekly report to Congress — Cayetano

President Rodrigo Duterte's televised public address is also a part of his weekly report to Congress on the acts performed under the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act, Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano said Monday.

In a Facebook live video, Cayetano said the House of Representatives has yet to receive the President's second weekly report to Congress on the acts that the executive branch has been doing after he was given special authority to address the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) situation.

Under the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act, the President is mandated to submit a report to Congress on Monday of every week on the acts performed pursuant to the law in the immediately preceding week.

The report should include the amount and corresponding utilization of the funds used, augmented, reprogrammed, reallocated and realigned for the purposes of the measure.

Cayetano said the report is "just a formal way" to inform the public about the President's activities, and they are not being "very technical" about it.

"Kami na mismo ang nagsabi sa Palasyo, basta dumating naman ng 11:59 p.m. yung report, ire-receive namin yan and then hihimayin namin and we will give our comments and share with the public," he said.

"Everyday nagbi-briefing naman ang IATF and I think on Mondays nagsasalita ang ating Pangulo, so let's wait for the announcement. But actually his speaking is also part of the report. So may written and oral part of the report dito," he added.

Cayetano vowed that once he receives the President's report, he will go through it and share his thoughts with the public.

The President's first weekly report to Congress stated that the government was still finalizing the list of around 18 million low-income Filipino families who would benefit from the emergency subsidy program amid the COVID-19 situation.

It also said the government has yet to realign funds from savings within the executive department to be used for COVID-19 response measures.

The report likewise stated that the Department of Budget and Management was crafting an executive issuance to govern the release of COVID-19 special risk allowance for public health workers.

But the said guidelines were issued on Monday. — RSJ, GMA News