Drilon: 2021 budget unresponsive to the country's needs amid pandemic

For Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, the proposed P4.5-trillion national budget for 2021 is not responsive to the needs of the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a Dobol B sa News TV interview on Sunday, Drilon criticized the proposed budget for next year, saying that it was crafted as if there was no ongoing health crisis.

"Mukhang walang pandemic ngayon. Yung proposed 2021 national budget ay hindi tumutugon sa pandemic," he said.

According to to him, the budget for the health sector decreased to P131 billion. There was also no increase in the budget for the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, retaining its P71-billion budget this year.

"Kailangan natin ng budget sa health dahil ang problema ngayon ay pandemic. Kung walang tiwala ang taumbayan na may kakayahan ang pamahalaan na harapin ang pandemic, hindi babalik sa dating sigla ang ekonomiya," he said.

"Kaya dapat buhusan natin ng pondo ang health sector," he added.

Drilon also pushed for the realignment of some allocations to fund cash subsidies for COVID-hit families under the Social Amelioration Program.

"Kahit sa first six months lang. Baka naman sa second half ng 2021 may vaccine na," he said.

Drilon said the budget of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict amounting to P19.1 billion as well as intelligence and confidential funds could be tapped to augment the allocations for health and cash subsidies.

"Yan pa lang sa anti-insurgency fund aabot sa P19 billion, pwedeng i-realign iyan. Yung confidential and intelligence fund sa buong pamahalaan na aabot sa P9 billion, pwede nating tingnan. Maraming lump-sum approrpition na pwedeng diyan manggaling yung pondo," he said.

The supposed "lump sum" allocations under the Department of Public Works and Highways could also be used as a source for the budget augmentations for the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

"Sinasabi ni Senator [Panfilo] Lacson na P468 billion [ang lump sums]. Ito po ay bawal, hindi pwede ang lump-sum. Kaya titingnan natin, isang source din yan na pwedeng panggalingan ng budget para sa DOH at DSWD," he said.

The Senate has begun its deliberations on the budget proposals of various government agencies.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives will begin its plenary debates on the 2021 General Appropriations Bill this week. —LBG, GMA News