Tonyo Cruz
As they loudly claim that aid is coming, the Duterte administration and Congress have quietly made a P54.6-billion insertion into the Bayanihan 3 bill that is supposedly all about pandemic response.
The P54.6-billion amount is not small. It is larger than many items in the Bayanihan 3 like the P30-billion for special cash assistance through the DSWD; P30-billion for the agri-fishery sector; P25-billion for displaced workers; P20-billion for wage subsidies; and P5.6-billion for public school teachers’ internet connectivity needs.
According to reports, the only item in Bayanihan 3 that’s larger than the P54.6-billion insertion is the P216-billion that would go to P2,000 cash grants to be given to each Filipino. In other words, the insertion could be the second largest item or second priority of government.
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Published March 2, 2021, 4:47 PM
Anakalusugan Partylist Rep. Michael T. Defensor on Tuesday disclosed that not a single centavo from the P20 billion taken away from the budget for the pension fund of retired personnel of uniformed went to the procurement of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines.
Anakalusugan Party-List Rep. Mike Defensor
(MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
Instead, Defensor said portions of the slashed funding went to pork barrel funds, apparently for lawmakers.
Defensor aired these claims as he accused ACT-CIS Partylist Rep. Eric Go Yap, chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, of lying before their Lower House colleagues for claiming that the P20 billion slashed from the military and police retirees’ pension fund went to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) fund.
Former Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano
(PCOO / FILE PHOTO)
In a radio interview, Cayetano said the government could take advantage of the reduced tourist arrivals and movement in the country to implement a massive tourism infrastructure program similar to President Rodrigo Duterte’s Build Build Build initiative.
‘’Since COVID-19 is still here, why don’t we Build Build Build in tourism-related areas? We have so many hidden gems. We have so many places that have yet to be explored. The problem is that the infrastructure is not yet there,’’ he said.
The former Speaker noted that neighboring countries in Southeast Asia, such as Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam, have long been investing in tourism-related infrastructure like facilities for artisan establishments and clean and accessible washrooms.