Cash aid for the poor is among the key provisions of the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, which granted President Rodrigo Duterte special powers. The Act allows Duterte to reshuffle funding within the executive department towards the government’s efforts against COVID-19. The same law also requires him to submit to Congress a weekly report on how he has so far utilized these powers and the government’s response to the pandemic. Senators Joel Villanueva and Francis Pangilinan are still calling on the government to fast track the distribution of cash aid, more than one month since Congress passed the measure. Only 24 percent of the 17.9 million intended cash aid beneficiaries have received financial assistance from the government. Pangilinan is also calling on Duterte to be more transparent in his report by showing the programs being implemented, their implementing agencies, the actual number of beneficiaries served, the target number of beneficiaries, the actual amount released for programs and the total budget for these. “The public needs to be reassured that we have enough resources to fund our fight against the pandemic and that these funds are being used for their intended purposes efficiently and swiftly,” he said.
Xave Gregorio, 'Duterte to submit fifth report on special powers to Congress', CNN Philippines
