Philippine News Agency
P77-B unreleased fund from 2019 may be used for Covid-19 response
Senator Panfilo Lacson questioned the need for a supplemental budget for the COVID-19 response, citing unused funds from the 2019 budget.
Lacson pointed out that as of the end of the third quarter of 2019, approximately P1.3 trillion in appropriations remained unspent.
He highlighted that around P989 billion of the unspent funds comes from the executive branch.
However, Malacañang, through Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, stated that only P77 billion was left unused from the 2019 national budget.
Roque insisted that the executive branch needed to seek supplemental funding from Congress to address the COVID-19 crisis, despite the P77 billion remaining funds.
The government had spent P352.7 billion out of P397 billion available funds to address the health crisis, according to Roque.
Topics in this story
Explore more stories about these topics.
🤖
This story was generated by AI to help you understand the key points. For more detailed coverage, please see the news articles from trusted media outlets below.
News Sources
See how different news organizations are covering this story. Below are the original articles from various Philippine news sources that contributed to this summary.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III stated that President Rodrigo Duterte does not need a supplemental budget for the COVID-19 response, as the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act already grants him the authority to realign funds.
Read more →
The Philippine government has spent P352.7 billion so far in its response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Read more →
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has mandated government agencies to implement austerity measures and postpone non-essential expenditures to safeguard funds for the ongoing COVID-19 response.
Read more →
The Philippine government plans to allocate its entire 2021 national budget towards addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and mitigating its socio-economic impact.
Read more →
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has approved the release of P45.717 billion to fund the Department of Health's (DOH) COVID-19 response efforts, as disclosed by President Rodrigo Duterte in his fifth weekly report to Congress.
Read more →