Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 16) — Economic managers say the Philippines has so far lost more than P3 trillion this year due to COVID-19.
This was revealed during plenary discussions on the 2021 national budget on Monday.
Senate Finance Committee chairman Sonny Angara, while being assisted by Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Chua, answered Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto’s questions on the general principles of the budget.
Angara said economic losses amount to ₱1.8 trillion while opportunity losses amounted to another ₱1 trillion to ₱1.8 trillion.
“Today, GDP is roughly ₱19 trillion. Without the pandemic, ₱20 trillion to ₱21 trillion na dapat tayo. We lost ₱1.850 trillion to ₱1.9 trillion. And in terms of opportunity loss, how much did we lose? Isn’t it another ₱1 trillion to ₱1.8 trillion? Ergo, we lost ₱3.6 trillion,” Recto said.
“Yes. But as I said, these are not normal times,” Angara said.
To help minimize losses next year, Recto proposed to allocate ₱150 billion in unprogrammed funds to cover the cost of purchasing COVID-19 vaccines and the logistics of inoculating at least 50 million Filipinos.
Unprogrammed appropriations refer to items that will be funded if the collections from non-tax revenues exceed targets.
Angara earlier said the 2021 budget allotted ₱18 billion for COVID-19 vaccines, while the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act allotted another ₱10 billion.
However, Recto pointed out that these amounts do not yet factor in the cold chain management and other logistics needed in inoculating Filipinos.
Both Recto and Angara noted that some pharmaceutical companies developing COVID-19 vaccines said their products need to be stored at negative 75 degrees Celsius until they are used.
“The distribution cost will be probably twice more than the cost of vaccine. I think that is the most important part of the budget for next year,” Recto said.
“You are absolutely correct because I was reading an article in TIME magazine that once the vaccine leaves the cold chain, it loses its effectivity,” Angara answered.
Recto suggested prioritizing inoculating the 54 million Filipinos aged 18 years old and above.
“To have herd immunity, what they are saying is you need at least 60 percent of population. So that is 60 million. Since the younger people are less susceptible to the virus and we have a young population, kung 18 pataas, voter age pataas, that’s roughly 54 million,” Recto said.
Recto noted executive officials earlier announced that the government is planning to borrow about $10 billion to vaccinate the population.
Since the government is planning to borrow funds, Recto said Congress might as well include this in the 2021 budget as part of the unprogrammed funds.
“That will tell the public we are serious in addressing this pandemic. That’s the best thing we can do. No amount of infrastructure, no amount of any, except for relief to families, no amount of economic spending will turn the tide unless you provide more confidence,” Recto said.
