Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 24) — President Rodrigo Duterte will again address the nation in a taped speech to be aired at 9 a.m. on Tuesday morning from Davao City and discuss how COVID-19 funds have been spent, his spokesman said.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the President’s meeting with the members of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases is still ongoing as of 10:59 p.m. Monday night, the reason why they moved the airing of his weekly address to Tuesday.
“Maga-address po ang ating Presidente. Isa po sa hiningi ng Presidente ngayon para sa talumpati niya ay ‘yung report sa lahat ng ahensya ng gobyerno kung paano po nagastos ang mga COVID-related expenses. Ire-report po ‘yan ng ating Presidente,” Roque said during his noontime press briefing in Malacañang.
[Translation: The President will have a public address. One of the things he asked for his speech is the report from all government agencies on how they disbursed COVID-related expenses. He will report that.]
Malacañang is anticipating the ratification of the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act, a ₱165.5-billion stimulus program meant to revive the local economy after months of lockdown. The unified version has already been accepted by the Senate last week, and is expected to be ratified by the House of Representatives today, which would allow Duterte to sign the bill into law.
Bayanihan 2 seeks to provide cash assistance and easy loans to small businesses hit by the pandemic the hardest. Roque added that the funds under the proposed law will also boost testing efforts under a ₱10-billion standby fund, which will also support the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines once ready.
The country has tested 2.15 million individuals as of August 23. The Department of Health said actual tests are now averaging 30,000 daily.
The government has so far spent ₱376.6 billion for coronavirus response measures, funded by available cash as well as loans from local and foreign sources. Of this, some ₱200 billion was spent on cash aid to the country’s poorest families, the second tranche of which is yet to be completed.
“Humihingi po kami ng abiso kung nagkaroon po ng inconvenience doon sa mga makakatanggap… Hindi naman kinakailangang mag-unahan para kunin yung kanilang mga pera sa mga FSPs (financial services provider), hindi po mawawala ‘yun,” Roque said, adding that some 14.1 million families are expected to receive the second wave of aid worth ₱5,000 to ₱8,000.
This is lower than the original 18 million target, which Roque said could not be hit because of double entries from the original list as well as a lower than expected beneficiaries endorsed by local government units.
“Kung hindi man po maibibigay ‘yan babalik po ‘yan sa national coffers at gagamitin natin sa Bayanihan 2, [If we cannot distribute that, then the money will go back to national coffers and can be used for Bayanihan 2]” Roque said, adding that the Department of Social Welfare and Development can also use the remaining cash to provide aid to other poor families. The funds were meant to cover basic needs during the March to May lockdown of Luzon.
Despite delays, he gave DSWD a passing grade in terms of cash aid releases.
The government also launched the Philippine Humanitarian Assistance Registry (PHAR) website on Monday, which details donations received for the local coronavirus response. The website lists the type of donations received, the donor, value, and the status of the items provided to government agencies for use or distribution.
Roque has repeatedly denied rumors that the President is sick following rumors online about Duterte being airlifted for a medical emergency to Singapore.
Duterte last made a public appearance a week ago when he announced the relaxation of quarantine rules for Metro Manila, Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, and Cavite, which are now under general community quarantine after a two-week lockdown. Roque apologized for describing the President as under “perpetual isolation,” saying it was poor choice of words and that he only meant that the Presidential Security Group has been making sure that no outsider gets near him to limit chances of COVID-19 infection.
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Roque and other Cabinet officials have flown to the President’s bailiwick in Mindanao via a C130 plane that left Villamor Air Base in Pasay to Davao around 2 p.m on Monday.
