Today, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed the historic
national spending package for next year, or the General Appropriations Act of
2021, an all-important measure that will enable the government respond to and
address the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that has severely damaged our economy and
disrupted the lives of millions of Filipinos across the country.
The P4.506-trillion national budget approved by Congress is
the biggest by far and will better position the Philippines to beat the public
health crisis and rise from its devastating effects. This is also a reflection
of our government’s serious commitment and strong resolve to defeat the virus
and bring the economy back on track.
Among the important features of this pandemic-responsive
budget is the allocation of P72.5 billion for the purchase, storage, transportation
and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. Another P2 billion has been earmarked
for the purchase of personal protective equipment or PPE to ensure that our
health workers are safe as they carry out their duty of saving every patient
from the virus.
𝘚𝘢 𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨
𝘮𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘭
𝘯𝘢
𝘗𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘰,
𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨
𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘵
𝘱𝘰
𝘴𝘢
𝘪𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘨
𝘯𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘨
𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘥𝘢
𝘢𝘵
𝘱𝘢𝘨-𝘢𝘱𝘳𝘶𝘣𝘢
𝘯𝘨
2021 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭
𝘣𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘵.
𝘛𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘺
𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘨
𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘢
𝘬𝘢𝘺𝘰𝘯g 𝘪𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘨
𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘥
𝘬𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪
𝘢𝘯𝘨
𝘪𝘬𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘪
𝘯𝘨
𝘪𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘨
𝘮𝘨𝘢
𝘬𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘺𝘢𝘯
𝘭𝘢𝘭𝘰
𝘯𝘢
𝘴𝘢
𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘨
𝘪𝘵𝘰
𝘯𝘨
𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘺𝘢.
And to our colleagues in the House of Representatives and our counterparts in
the Senate, thank you very much for your hard work and for putting together
this milestone legislation in a timely manner.
