Palace rejects Robredo’s proposal for monthly aid to poorest Filipinos, saying gov’t lacks fund

August 27, 2020

Malacanang rejected on Thursday the proposal of Vice President Leni Robredo to provide monthly allowance for four months to the 10 million poorest families, saying the government lacks fund.

In a virtual press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said as much as the government wants to extend assistance to the Filipinos, there is budgetary constraint.

"We don't have sufficient fund for that," he said referring to Robredo's proposal to give P5,000 monthly for four months to the 10 million poorest families or sums up to P200 billion.

"The national government has already distributed financial assistance twice, but many experts agree that we should allocate more funds to extend such an effort," Robredo has said.

Roque said even in the Bayanihan to Recover As One Bill or Bayanihan 2 which is up for President Rodrigo Duterte's approval, the allocation is also limited, which is P165 billion.

He said the amount for Bayanihan 2 is much lower than the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act where over 18 million low income households and vulnerable sectors were able to receive cash assistance amounting between P5,000 and P8,000 in two tranches during the lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease.

"(Our budget) is not sufficient because as you all know, in public finance, you cannot spend without source of the possible expenditure," Roque said. Celerina Monte/DMS