The following overriding and critical questions about the COVID-19 pandemic afflicting the country need immediate candid answers from the Duterte administration:
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Why is the President’s Contingent Fund of P13 billion barely untouched when it was purposely appropriated to respond to calamities like the deadly novel coronavirus? Reliable sources reveal that only a low of P1 million and/or a high of P1 billion had been disbursed from the contingent fund which has an unutilized balance as of today of not less than P12 billion.
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Why are impoverished local government units, particularly rural barangays, saddled with the obligation to provide food, work and cash assistance to affected citizens and displaced workers when they do not have the financial wherewithal to positively and adequately respond even as the Office of the President and national agencies have the sufficient funds under the 2020 General Appropriations Act (GAA) just waiting to be disbursed to meet the crisis?
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Why is the mortality rate of the Philippines at 6.2% of infected patients (19 deaths out of 307 COVID-19 positive patients) is much higher than the global death rate of 4.3%?
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Why are the leaders of the House and the Senate, together with the President, so keen on holding a special session when it is not of critical immediacy because response funds are readily available in the GAA?
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In an expanded regionwide lockdown, how exactly are residents given access to food and sanitation?
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What is the real status of the country’s food supply, both agricultural and manufactured goods?
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Why is Congress being rushed to fund an economic stimulus package without much consultation, planning, study and deliberation?
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Why are doctors, nurses and other medical personnel attending to suspected and confirmed patients not given adequate supply of personal protective equipment (PPEs) for their insulation from infection?
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Why are frontline personnel like those in the Bureau of Immigration, Bureau of Customs and Bureau of Quarantine who are manning airports and seaports and are exposed to travelers with possible infection not also given PPEs?
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Should not the government make a public accounting of the utilization of contributions and donations from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), domestic corporate giants, and foreign countries to the Philippines’ war against the pandemic?
EDCEL C. LAGMAN