Senator bares other funding sources

The government can tap other sources of funds to finance the government’s effort to respond to the threat of Covid-19, Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go said after the House Appropriations Committee only approved a PHP1.65-billion supplemental budget for the purpose.

“Since the Department of Health (DOH) is requesting an additional PHP3.1 billion, additional funds may be raised from other sources,” Go said in a statement.

The DOH earlier sought the additional funds for the following: PHP2.035 billion for personal protective equipment (PPE), PHP933 million for the Bureau of Quarantine, and PHP139 million for the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).

Go said the rest of the funding requirement could be raised from among others, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).

“I mentioned last Monday that I personally spoke to Pagcor chair Andrea Domingo and she said that…