Manila Bulletin
‘Use P19-B for anti-insurgency to buy COVID-19 vaccines,’ --- Drilon
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon proposed reallocating the P19 billion anti-insurgency fund for the advance purchase of COVID-19 vaccines.
Drilon calculated that the P19 billion fund could cover the procurement of 50 million vaccine doses, enough for 25 million Filipinos, at an estimated cost of P12.5 billion.
This proposal aims to prevent the government from borrowing $9 billion from the World Bank for vaccine procurement.
Detained Senator Leila de Lima supported Drilon's suggestion, stating that funds should prioritize pandemic response and poverty alleviation.
Senator Risa Hontiveros also agreed with realigning the anti-insurgency budget, proposing to allocate half of it to the Department of Health and some to hospitals.
Hontiveros suggested moving P8 billion to the DOH budget and P2 billion to government and regional hospitals.
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