Bong Go urges gov't officials to ensure public funds are spent properly following the signing of 2022 national budget

Senator Christopher "Bong" Go urged the executive branch to ensure that public funds are spent properly as President Rodrigo Duterte recently signed the 2022 General Appropriations Act.

"Dapat po'y walang masayang na ni piso sa kaban ng bayan. Tiyakin nating magiging kasangkapan ang pondo ng gobyerno upang mapadali ang pagbangon ng ating bansa sa pagpasok ng bagong taon," said Go in a radio interview on Thursday, December 30.

"Kaya hinihimok ko po ang mga kasamahan ko sa gobyerno na gamitin nang tama ang pondong inilaan upang agarang maihatid ang serbisyo at tulong sa mga nararapat nating mga kababayan, sa ating mga mamamayan," he stressed.

The senator noted that the budget is crucial for the success of the government's pandemic response and recovery efforts for the areas devastated by Typhoon Odette. He also stressed that the funds will be geared towards the country's economic recovery and growth.

"Not only sa COVID response dahil ito pong mga biktima po ng Typhoon Odette, inaasahan natin dahil kulang talaga 'yung pondo nung 2021 -- 'yung disaster fund, 'yung calamity fund po ng national government kulang na po, P2 bilyon na lang natitira (sa 2021)," Go said.

"Kaya pagdating po ng January, pwede na hong gamitin kaagad ito para sa mga Quick Response Fund ng mga iba't ibang ahensya, sa mga infrastructure, at makatulong rin po kaagad sa mga local government units dahil marami pong tinamaan," he added.

The GAA 2022 set an increased budget for the Department of Health, which Go advocated for during the Senate budget deliberations.

"Bilang Chair po ng Senate Committee on Health, we successfully advocated budgetary support para po sa patuloy na implementasyon ng prevention, detection, isolation, treatment at reintegration strategy, urging hiring ng COVID-19 human resource for health -- 'yung hiring and training po ng mga contact tracers at mga pondo po na makakatulong po sa ating COVID response," noted Go.

The Senate Committee on Finance adopted the recommendations of Senator Go, among others, to allocate funds for programs and activities which are crucial to the country's pandemic response, such as the Health Facilities Enhancement Program, compensation and other benefits of COVID-19 Workers, COVID-19 Laboratory Network Commodities, and the procurement of COVID-19 vaccine booster shots.

Meanwhile, Go pointed out that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 remains a pressing concern as positivity rate in the National Capital Regions soared to 14%. He then reiterated his appeal for Filipinos to maintain discipline and continue cooperating with the government to stave off another spike in cases.

"Napakaimportante po nito dahil gumaganda na po ang takbo ng ating COVID response, pero nabanggit po kanina ni Pangulong Duterte na nababahala po siya dahil dito sa naiuulat na Omicron variant. Dahil bagama't mayroon tayong bagong budget, ay kung bagong variant na naman at biglaan na naman itong spike o pagtaas ng kaso ay delikado naman po tayo," said Go.

"Kaya kailangan po natin ang kooperasyon, koordinasyon at disiplina po ng bawat Pilipino. Hindi po kaya ng gobyerno itong mag-isa, itong trabahong ito. Kailangan po tulungan po tayo, magmalasakit po tayo sa ating kapwa," he concluded.