Malacañang said Thursday it was not inclined to agree to the proposal of Vice President Leni Robredo to give P5,000 monthly cash aid to 10 million poorest Filipino families to help them during the pandemic.
Palace spokesman Harry Roque said even if the government would want to provide financial assistance to poor families, it was not feasible at this time since the government did not have enough funds.
“We don’t have enough money. You know it’s public funds. We cannot spend if we don’t have a source of possible expenditure,” Roque said.
Roque made the statement after Robredo proposed a monthly P5,000 subsidy for poor Filipinos.
However, Roque said such a proposal would cost the government another P200 billion.
Cheaper detection
The team leader of Project Antibody Rapid Test Kit (ARK) said it was working to bring to the Philippines the “antigen saliva test” for faster and cheaper detection of the coronavirus.
Project ARK’s medical team leader Dr. Minguita Padilla said at the Laging Handa public briefing the saliva test was being done in Israel and San Francisco, California, where a person would spit in a kit and the authorities would then know if the person had coronavirus.
Project ARK is a private-sector-led initiative that aims to boost the country’s capacity to identify and contain COVID-19.
The antigen saliva test detects COVID-19 by tracing the presence of proteins that are found in the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the virus that causes COVID-19.
Calamba facility
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, along with National Action Plan Against COVID-19 Chief Implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez and Deputy Chief Implementer Secretary Vince Dizon, led the inspection of the mega quarantine facility in Calamba, Laguna on Thursday.
“‹The group inspected the Calabarzon Regional Government Center which is currently being transformed into a COVID-19 quarantine facility with 553 cubicles, nurse stations, quarters for healthcare workers, with toilet and shower rooms for patients. The facility is expected to begin operations by early September.
“The construction of this 553-bed quarantine facility will be a big boost to the government’s effort in containing the COVID-19 pandemic. As we ramp up our testing capacity, we are also increasing our bed capacity for isolation and quarantine. These two should go hand in hand,” Duque said.
Workers ban
Stressing that the travel ban hostages their chance to have a decent work-life balance and give their families a better future, Senator Nancy Binay on Thursday urged the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and the IATF to recall their deployment ban on healthcare workers.
According to Binay, the government had no right to prevent healthcare workers from working abroad to provide for the needs of their families.
“For healthcare workers, the struggle to survive is real in the midst of risks and trying to feed a family. The POEA and the IATF should understand the situation of our nurses that they’re not just full-time in hospitals,” said Binay.
Should the POEA insist on continuing the deployment ban, the government must ensure that healthcare workers in the country are given competitive compensation, she said.