Lagman: Expiration of Bayanihan 2 with unutilized funds an indictment of Duterte admin’s failure

Albay Representative Edcel Lagman on Wednesday said the expiration of the validity of the Bayanihan 2, with billions of still unobligated funds, was a “serious indictment” of the failure of the Duterte administration to help Filipinos affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Paucity in appropriation is aggravated by ineptness in fund utilization for the pandemic response,” Lagman said in a statement. 

“This is a serious indictment of the failure of the Duterte administration to rescue Filipinos from health complications and bail out the economy consequent to the onslaught of COVID-19,” he added. 

According to Lagman, this “ineffectiveness” accounts for the projection that the Philippines would be the last among countries in the Asia-Pacific Region that will recover from the pandemic-induced recession. 

Bayan Muna party-list Representative Carlos Zarate, for his part, is demanding a full accounting of the funds appropriated for the Bayanihan 1 and 2. 

Citing data from the Department of Budget and Management, he said the Bayanihan 1 and 2 fund releases and disbursements resulted in a remaining amount of P217.2 billion as of April 15. 

“Just the other day the DBM said that only P9 billion remains to be obligated under Bayanihan 2 but with the government’s low capacity to disburse and obligate, and a persistent showing of such absorptive capacity, we want to know how an amount of more than 200 billion was used in less than 3 months. The people must know where these public funds go,” Zarate said. 

“Without proper accounting, we cannot blame the people for thinking that this administration is trying to create an enormous war chest in the run up for the 2022 elections," he added. 

The validity of Bayanihan 2 expires today, June 30. 

Earlier, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the unspent fund under the law is at P9 billion and he had expressed confidence that this would all be obligated until today. 

Deputy Speaker and Cagayan de Oro City Representative Rufus Rodriguez on Wednesday said it would be illegal to obligate funds after June 30 if the Bayanihan 2 law will not be extended. —KG, GMA News