On the Proper Spending of Bayanihan Funds

More at: https://pinglacson.net/2021/07/25/on-the-proper-spending-of-bayanihan-funds/

The President got his information all mixed up. I am not the Senator who claimed there was underspending under the Bayanihan fund. I'm quite sure because I don't have the data on the matter, and I don't speak without basis. Some other legislators did.

My speech before the Rotary Club last Friday dealt with pre-pandemic budget underspending from 2017 to 2019, on the annual average of P331 billion against our yearly gross borrowings of almost P1 trillion during the same period. Nothing to do with Bayanihan.

With that said, I cannot emphasize enough the need for the proper spending of our limited resources, regardless of whether these are from the Bayanihan or not. Our national debt has ballooned to P11.07 trillion as of end-May. Each one of us, even those newly born, is in debt by P100,000. We must make sure taxpayers' money will be used judiciously.

And at the risk of sounding like a broken record, there is no room to mix business and health, especially during a time of extreme emergency like the pandemic.