President Duterte has called on Congress to hold a special session to pass a supplementary budget to combat the spread of the dreaded coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
This was disclosed late Thursday night by Senator Christopher Lawrence ‘’Bong’’ Go, a former special assistant to President Duterte and current chairman of the Senate health and demography committee.
“I, together with my other colleagues in the Senate and the House of Representatives, recommended to the President of the Republic that a special session of both Houses of Congress be called so that the Legislative Branch can convene to tackle and pass appropriate measures granting a supplemental budget in order to give the President and other concerned agencies the flexibility of utilizing funds as they deem necessary to combat the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19),” Go said.
Go said that he has discussed the matter with Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III and House Speaker Alan Peter S. Cayetano, who both said that they were ready to hold the special session the soonest possible time, either on Saturday or Monday next week.
Based on their discussion, Go said the priority was to ensure that additional funds could be allocated for immediate healthcare needs and for much-needed financial and food assistance to Filipinos, particularly the vulnerable sectors, daily wage earners and informal economy workers affected by the strict quarantine measures being imposed. (Mario Casayuran)