With almost P40 billion of the funds allotted to address gaps in the country’s COVID-19 response measures still not released, Senator Francis Pangilinan sought Thursday a Senate probe on the snail-paced disbursement and utilization of funds under Bayanihan 2.
Pangilinan filed Senate Resolution 647 after an online survey in Southeast Asia showed that a majority or 53.7 percent of its Filipino respondents from a more specialized cohort than respondents in national surveys disapproved of the government’s handling of the pandemic.
Findings by the Singapore-based ASEAN Studies Center released Wednesday showed that among Southeast Asian countries, Filipinos in the policy, research, business, civil society, and media communities had the lowest approval rating for their government’s response to the pandemic.
According to the report of the Office of the President submitted to the Senate January 4, only a total of P103.24 billion of the P140 billion Bayanihan 2 funds had been released.
In Senate Resolution 647, Pangilinan pointed out the delays in the release of the salary of contact tracers, hazard pay and special allowances of health workers, cash subsidies to jeepney drivers, and P83 billion of funds of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, as well as the underspending of the Departments of Transportation, Public Works and Highways, and Agriculture.
“These delays and underspending are unacceptable given that Bayanihan 2 was signed into law September 11, 2020,” Pangilinan said.
At last week’s Senate hearing, the DA revealed that project implementation under the Bayanihan 2 was only at 25 percent, with no measures so far to address the African swine flu that has crippled the P200-billion hog industry and caused the drastic rise of prices of pork in the market.
Senate Resolution 647 aims to direct the appropriate Senate committee to conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, on the release and utilization of the Bayanihan 2 funds to address the critical gaps in the country’s COVID-19 response measures.
In the resolution, Pangilinan noted the Philippines’ abysmal rankings for COVID-19 management and vaccine procurement, where the country ranked 79th among 98 nations in the containment of the pandemic according to a study by the Lowy Institute.
“We can’t let bureaucracy slow us down from delivering much needed aid and support… We have to know where else are we underspending and how we can unlock the funds and speed up the disbursement,” he said.
A similar House Resolution was filed in Congress February 8. House Resolution No. 1558 urges the House Committee on Public Accounts to probe the release and utilization of the Bayanihan 2 funds.
“We are still in a pandemic which means the government must act with a sense of urgency: fast, efficient, and transparent. With the way things are now, who knows how long it will take to get the ball rolling,” Pangilinan said.
Meanwhile, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said the government should pass a third round of Bayanihan 111 centered on helping families who were having a hard time putting food on the table.
He said the “supply squeeze and price hikes” of food should prompt the immediate passage of the Bayanihan III Law. He batted for “food-focused” Bayanihan III with a “high nutritional content.”
He said authors of the various Bayanihan III bills pending in the House and in the Senate, of which he is one, should craft a version that would create “a menu of food programs.”
“The first, of course, is a new round of cash ayuda to poor families, and this time in a faster, better, and more targeted manner. After two rounds, the government cannot say it lacks practice,” he said.
Recto said among programs worth considering are food-for-work employment programs in labor-intensive government projects from public works, repair of farm infrastructure, preparation and distribution of school modules, and health.
There is also a proposal to launch various “work-for-food” projects in which local government will encourage families to tend community gardens.
Recto said boosting food production could be done without routing money through the Department of Agriculture, whose slow disbursement system has not been tuned for crisis spending.
For example, DSWD, LGUs and civic groups can work together in establishing community kitchens for children.
“Our children should not emerge from the pandemic stunted in both physical and intellectual growth,” he said.
Recto said inserting the “food quotient” across the proposed programs to be funded by the Bayanihan III would mean that those in the food business will be prioritized in planned aid for small firms.
“All indicators point to reloading the Bayanihan now. Tourist receipts, from a sector which accounts for 1/10th of the economy, plummeted to P82.2 billion last year from P482.1 billion in 2019.”
Recto said while funds for Bayanihan II and the 2021 national budget are still being spent, there is no harm—in fact, it is prudent—to ready the replacement because there is certainty that they will be consumed.
Meanwhile, former Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano gave assurances on the availability of funds for the distribution of additional financial assistance for every Filipino family.
Cayetano said the Bangon Pamilyang Pilipino (BPP) Assistance Program which they proposed on February 1 was a simple initiative that could be sustained by unused funds from previous years.
“The problem of our citizens is simple: they do not have resources at this point in time,” Cayetano said at a news conference in Taguig City.
“The solution is also simple. We did it before with Bayanihan 1. We already have a system — we give P10,000 as capital to each Filipino family,” he added.
Under the Bayanihan to Heal As One (Bayanihan 1), the government gave between P5,000 and P8,000 to 18 million low-income households for two months.
Cayetano said this time around, the BPP Assistance Program was intended to stimulate the economy.
“Why is it capital? Because NEDA [National Economic Development Authority] itself said household consumption is the key and will be the essential element in our economic recovery,” Cayetano said.
For his part, Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte explained that the program’s budget would be sourced from unutilized and unobligated funds from the two previous Bayanihan programs as well as the 2020 and 2021 General Appropriations Acts.
He said the government recently reported around P452 billion in unutilized funds from the 2020 national budget and P204 million in its unobligated cash balance.
“Imagine if we pour in P200 billion to the economy now. That would pump-prime it,” Villafuerte said in the same news conference.
“That money will circulate and will be used to buy necessities and will be used for livelihoods and businesses while we wait for the COVID-19 vaccine,” he said.
The BPP Assistance Program was filed as House Bill No. 8597 by Cayetano, his wife Taguig second district Rep. Lani Cayetano, and their allies on February 1 in response to the ongoing pandemic as well as the increase in the prices of basic commodities.
Co-authoring the bill are Villafuerte, Batangas 2nd District Rep. Raneo Abu, Laguna 1st District Rep. Dan Fernandez, Bulacan 1st District Rep. Jose Antonio “Kuya” Sy-Alvarado, and Anakalusugan Party-list Rep. Michael Defensor.
Priority beneficiaries for the P10,000 assistance for families are the poorest of the poor, senior citizens, persons with disabilities, solo parents, displaced workers, medical frontliners, families of overseas Filipino workers, individuals who were not able to secure aid through the Social Amelioration Program, Philippine National ID holders, and members of vulnerable groups.
“In rural areas, what we hear is that people are hungry, or they tell us, ‘Sir, we have no one to turn to for help,” Cayetano said.
Citing NEDA’s observation that household consumption is vital to reviving the country’s economic performance, the bill aims to “drive household consumption up and in turn help our economy recover.”
“We really need an adrenaline shot. We need to nurse back to health our economy, and it starts with every Filipino family. his cannot be just for big businesses, or even just for micro, small, and medium enterprises,” Cayetano stressed.
Cayetano urged Congress to set aside complicated measures that entail lengthy debates and focus on providing Filipinos immediate relief.
However, the former Speaker also assured the public that he and his allies are willing to work with their colleagues in Congress in developing existing proposals for economic relief. “The people don’t want technicalities. They want solutions.”