endIndex: Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 18) — As the highly transmissible Delta variant reaches the Philippines, Vice President Leni Robredo urged the national government on Sunday to boost the funding of regions outside the capital to equip them for a possible surge of new infections. The government official during her weekly radio show on Sunday said the government must be proactive and start extending financial assistance to regions that still lack the capacity to handle a COVID-19 spike. “Sana buhusan sila ng pondo pandagdag ng capacity, dagdag na tao, medical equipment,” Robredo said. [Translation: I hope they will be flooded with additional funds to increase their capacity, manpower, and medical equipment.]