in ,

Public’s fear confirmed; national debt to increase as PH seeks to borrow more money for COVID-19 vaccines

P72.5 billion was designated to purchasing but the P70 billion lacks a funding source.

Government officials confirmed the number one fear of the Filipino public, and that is the Philippines will be borrowing more money to purchase COVID-19 vaccines.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. revealed that the government sat down with international lending agencies like the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank to make the Philippines a recipient of COVID-19 vaccines in next year’s distribution.

“Ang napag-agree-han para maging transparent at sure tayo na walang corruption and diligent ang gagawin natin, ang ating magiging procurement manager at funder ay ADB,” said Galvez during a press briefing.

Various countries enter multilateral and bilateral agreements so every signatory involved are given equal access to the vaccines,

Netizens weren’t too thrilled with the news because they know the future generation will have to pay the debt back to the lenders.

https://twitter.com/kingphilippe10/status/1338421577038389248?s=20

Roque went after Senator Franklin Drilon and Vice President Leni Robredo for allegedly politicking.

“Senator Drilon, Vice President, malayo pa po ang eleksyon, itigil muna ang pulitika. Tayo po ay makakautang na sa bilateral sources, multilateral sources para po sa P72.5 billion na kakailanganin,” said Roque.

Drilon previously questioned the the amount allotted by Congress for procurement under the General Appropriations Act.

P72.5 billion was designated to purchasing but the P70 billion lacks a funding source.

Robredo’s spokesperson Atty. Barry Gutierrez on the other hand said that the debt of the country will only increase if the Philippines keeps relying on unappropriated funding for COVID-19 vaccine procurement.

Roque explained that the P2.5 billion fund placed under the Department of Health’s budget will see the purchasing of syringes and other necessaries.

He said that specifying the total funding that would come from international lending agencies is important to comply with the country’s laws.

“Kaya po nilagay sa budget ‘yan (dahil) maski utangin, kung hindi nasa budget ay hindi puwedeng gastusin. Alam ni Senator Drilon ‘to and the vice president,” said Roque.

“They should know how the budget works,” he added.

The Bureau of Treasury states that for 2020 alone, the country already has a debt of P10.03 trillion which can be ascribed to COVID-19 response.

Galvez thinks that the Philippines will find itself on the “tailing end of the supply chain” if the government uses the appropriated fund from the national budget because the country is required to adhere to an advance commitment with COVID-19 vaccine developers by the end of the year.

So far, the government has already used around P50 billion from ADB allotted by the Department of Finance.

In order to increase funding, Galvez also said that the government could possibly borrow funds from the Development Bank of the Philippines, Land Bank of the Philippines, and other government-owned and controlled corporations.

Written by Charles Teves

Netizens discover the continuous efforts to restore the dolomite beach at Manila Bay

Sen. Nancy Binay appears to shade PNP chief Debold Sinas after Tarlac double murder