Sen Sotto: P200-B COVID aid covers 16.5M needy families

Senator Vicente Sotto III clarified on Sunday that the proposed P200-billion supplemental budget for COVID-19 response will only cover 16.5 million families in need.

Sotto stated during a Super Radyo dzBB interview that this amount is just an estimate and does not specify a fixed sum.

In contrast, Senator Panfilo Lacson believes the P200-billion budget is inadequate, stating it covers only 30% of minimum wage for affected workers for two months.

Lacson suggested looking into unused appropriations from the 2019 budget, noting at least P989 billion was unspent by various departments as of Q3 last year.