Removed Amendment Cuts COVID-19 Vaccine Funding By Nearly P10B In 2021 Budget

MANILA – Funding for COVID-19 vaccines was slashed by approximately P10 billion from the 2021 budget after Congress withdrew an amendment Wednesday that would increase the original P2.5 billion allocation for the drug’s purchase. .

The Senate and House of Representatives previously approved the following breakdown for the purchase, storage, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines:

• P8 billion under the Department of Health (under the Secretary’s Office)
• 54,000 million pesetas in unscheduled credits for vaccines
• P21 billion in unscheduled credits for the costs of storage, transportation and distribution of vaccines

But after bicameral deliberations on the 2021 budget ended on Dec. 9, funding scheduled for vaccines was reverted to P2.5 billion, the executive department’s original proposal before the House of Representatives pushed to increase it by P5.5 billion.

“Under the budget for 2021 there is P72.5 billion in total for vaccines, while under Bayanihan 2 there is P10 billion, so a total of P82.5 billion once the budget becomes law,” he said. the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Sonny Angara a text message.

BULK UNDER NON-SCHEDULED FUNDS

When asked why most of the Philippines’ COVID-19 vaccine fund was marked as unscheduled appropriations, Angara said the Department of Finance (DOF) “assured” lawmakers that the article would be funded next year.

Under the law, funding for non-scheduled items in the budget is generated only once the government exceeds its target collection of non-tax revenue.

“Some people think that if they are not scheduled, they will not receive funding. That is not true. The probability of funding it is great,” Angara told a news conference.

(Others think that it cannot be financed if it is not programmed).

“The important thing is that the funding is there and accessible and in the case of unscheduled funds, the triggers for the release exceed non-tax revenue, which has been done in recent years and is very, very likely by 2021, “he told ABS-CBN News in a separate text message.

Malacañang previously said that it would prioritize some 24.6 million Filipinos against COVID-19, including the frontline and vulnerable sectors.

HEALTH ASSIGNMENT BEHIND PUBLIC WORKS, DEFENSE

The Health Department’s budget for next year, when countries are expected to procure COVID-19 vaccines, is at least P400 billion lower than allocations for education and infrastructure.

LOOK: DOH Gets 6th Highest Allocation in 2021 Budget.

By law, education must receive the majority of the annual budget.

But funding for the Department of Health during the COVID-19 pandemic also lags behind allocations for DPWH, DILG, DND, DSWD. pic.twitter.com/6YrXh7MBpd

– Kat Domingo (@_katrinadomingo) December 9, 2020

Like every year, the Department of Education got the majority of the national budget with P708.18 billion for 2021, followed by the Department of Public Works and Roads with P694.82 billion.

DOH is expected to get P287.47 billion next year.

The House and Senate are expected to ratify the 2021 spending bill at the Dec. 9 session of Congress.

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