Manila Bulletin
Senate finance panel files report on P4.506-T budget; main aim: enable PH to overcome COVID-19 pandemic
Senator Sonny Angara formally presented the Senate Committee on Finance's report on the proposed P4.506-trillion national budget for 2021, aiming to help the Philippines overcome the COVID-19 pandemic.
Key priorities include strengthening the healthcare system with P16.6 billion for the Department of Health (DOH) to hire more medical frontliners and P2.7 billion for personal protective equipment (PPEs).
The budget also allocates P8 billion for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines and an additional P10 billion as standby funds for augmentation.
The P19-billion proposed fund for the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) will be retained.
Concerns were raised by opposition senators to realign funds for the anti-insurgency program to aid victims of super typhoon Rolly, but Angara assured these would be addressed by augmenting the Calamity Fund from other sources.
Angara emphasized that the 2021 budget is the primary way to move out of the pandemic and towards a brighter future.
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