Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 13) — The government has so far released ₱132.3-billion from savings for its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to President Rodrigo Duterte’s third weekly report to Congress on his special powers to address the crisis.
A bulk of the funding went to the Social Welfare Department, which received ₱100 billion to fund cash aid to some 18 million indigent families to cushion the impact of quarantine measures being implemented to curb the spread of the virus.
Cities and municipalities got the second-largest chunk of the funding, with them getting a total of ₱30.8 billion from the government as a grant to augment their response COVID-19.
The Labor Department, which is assisting workers displaced by quarantine measures, also received ₱1.5 billion in cash allocations.
All these were sourced from discontinued programs, activities and projects, and abandoned special purpose funds amounting to ₱189.82 billion.
The special powers that Congress granted Duterte through the Bayanihan to Heal as One law allow him to realign savings within the executive to the government’s COVID-19 response.
