Malacañang announced on Thursday that it would release a report next week on the government’s spending for its COVID-19 response.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said he would be presenting on Monday, August 3, the government’s funds and spending for the pandemic response.
“Magkakaroon po tayo ng PowerPoint presentation on Monday kung magkano ‘yung natanggap ng gobyerno at paano po ginastos ‘yan para ipatunay po na wala pong tinatago ang gobyerno,” he said.
[We will have a PowerPoint presentation on Monday on how much has the government received and how it was spent to prove that the government is not hiding anything.]
Roque defensively reiterated that the president has nothing to hide about COVID-19 spending, and their report would be the proof.
“Wala pong tinatago ang Presidente at ang Malacañang. Lahat po ng gastos, lahat po ng pera na ginastos para sa COVID-19, napunta po ‘yan para sa COVID-19 response ng gobyerno,” the spokesperson said.
[The President and Malacañang are not hiding anything. All of the expenses were for the COVID-19 response of the government.]
Last month, Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado reported that government spending for the pandemic has reached P355 billion. Of the said amount, Avisado said P247.52 billion came from pooled savings while P96.7 billion came from unprogrammed appropriations.
Earlier this week, opposition member Sen. Risa Hontiveros filed a resolution urging the Commission on Audit to conduct a special audit on the pandemic spending before Congress debates on the proposed 2021 national budget.
“Dahil wala naman kami tinatago, we welcome the special audit, noting na talaga naman ia-audit po ‘yan ng COA dahil ang COA po post-audit po ang kanilang ginagawa,” Roque said.
[Because we are not hiding anything, we welcome the special audit, noting that there will be really an audit by COA because they conduct post-audit.]
The call for a special audit was also supported by Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto, Senate Finance Committee Chair Sonny Angara, Sen. Panfilo Lacson, and minority Senators Franklin Drilon, Francis Pangilinan, and Leila de Lima.
