Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of the Diocese San Carlos and co-chairperson of the Church People – Workers Solidarity said that the proposed 2021 national budget “does not guarantee adequate health care especially to the poorest of the poor and those severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“If we don’t spend enough, ordinary citizens would continue to suffer…If we don’t reverse the business closures, how could we generate jobs? The government would then have to provide aid, which is obviously not sustainable.” — Marikina 2nd District Rep. Stella Quimbo
Opposition legislators were quick to spot this brazen attempt to revive the pork barrel system, as the NTF-ELCAC is set to receive a 2,969 percent increase in its budget – from P622.3 million in 2020 to a whopping P19.1 billion in 2021.
At a time when health infrastructure and concerns of health workers demand to be addressed, the Philippine government takes a sharp turn and reveals it true priorities.
Of the P19.13-billion proposed budget, the biggest share, P16.4 billion from the President’s Local Government Support Fund, is to be allotted to a Barangay Development Program (BDP) administered by NTF-ELCAC.