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Fast-track release of funds for 26,000 distressed companies: Sen. Francis Pangilinan calls on the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to fast-track the release of the remaining P9 billion under the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) COVID-19 Assistance to Restart Enterprises (CARES) to help 26,000 companies affected by the pandemic. After learning that of the P10 billion fund, only P1 billion was released to companies applying for loan, Pangilinan said these companies continue to wait despite the availability of funds. “We hope, even prior to the resolution of the matter of how we extend or how we will ensure that these funds will be made available under legal cover, between now and the end of the year, we hope that the DBM will release a substantial amount of these funds for the 26,000 who are crying for help, and facilitated by the DTI,” Pangilinan said during the hybrid plenary deliberation on next year's national budget, Wednesday, November 18, 2020. (Screen grab/ Senate PRIB)