MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte cannot claim that the government no longer has funds for Filipinos affected by Typhoon Odette because funds for crisis situations were already allocated in the national government’s budget, aside from funds that came from foreign loans. “How can the president claim that there’s no available budget for typhoon victims due to COVID-19 when funds for the pandemic response were preprogrammed? ADVERTISEMENTColmenares pointed out that the Philippines borrowed “trillions” for its COVID-19 response, and that funds for the pandemic were preprogrammed in the 2021 national budget. “Even without the massive borrowings, there’s still a calamity fund that spans two fiscal years, with a P20-billion budget for 2021. He suggested that the president tap the budget of his office’s intelligence fund and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) for starters.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer December 19, 2021 11:22 UTC