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Palace: Fund for COVID-19 booster shots for all Pinoys guaranteed in 2022 budget
By LLANESCA T. PANTI,GMA NewsMalacañang said Thursday that the government will have enough money to buy the third COVID-19 doses for all Filipinos in case they will be needed in 2022.
“The government is one step ahead. As declared by (Finance) Secretary (Carlos) Dominguez, we have included in the proposed 2022 budget a provision for a third dose for all Filipinos,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said.
Roque said that the windfall from the Supreme Court ruling
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“We are expecting to collect P41 billion from Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation. This dates back to 2012. We are collecting excise tax from Shell for importing alkylate. Shell argued that they should not pay us excise tax because alkylate is not an unleaded gasoline, but we stood our ground that alkylate is just a different name for unleaded gasoline,” Roque said.
“Shell appealed the initial ruling and apparently this was for the better because due to this appeal, from a principal amount of P3 billion to P4 billion, it ballooned to P41 billion including penalties and interests. That will surely be used primarily for our COVID response," he added.
The Palace official also said the Philippine government cannot afford to place Metro Manila under lockdown even amid the emergence of the more infectious Delta variant because such policy would need cash aid for all residents of affected areas.—LDF, GMA News