Republic of the Philippines
Senate
OFFICE OF SENATOR LEILA M. DE LIMA LE-7J2020-230 LML-_____________ MEMORANDUM FOR:
CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE
THRU:
SENATE PRESIDENT VICENTE C. SOTTO III SEN. JUAN EDGARDO "SONNY" ANGARA SEN. JUAN MIGUEL "MIGZ" F. ZUBIRI SEN. FRANKLIN M. DRILON SEN. CHRISTOPHER LAWRENCE T. GO
FROM:
SEN. LEILA M. DE LIMA
RE:
COMMENTS ON THE 1ST MONTHLY REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT DATED 5 October 2020
DATE:
7 October 2020
I humbly submit my comments on the President’s 1st Monthly Report dated 5 October 2020, in compliance with Section 14 of Republic Act No. 11494: 1) The Social Amelioration Program’s intervention aimed to aid the poor was not fully achieved and optimized. The ₱10 billion undistributed cash assistance under Bayanihan 1 which is admitted by the DSWD is a case of serious negligence on their part and a disservice to the supposed beneficiaries of the program. We believe that this amount must not be returned to the National Treasury considering the estimate from the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) that additional of 1.5 to 5.5 million Filipinos will slide into poverty because of the pandemic. The National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), during a recent hearing in the Senate with the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), likewise revealed that the government is expecting a worsening poverty incidence ranging from 15.5 to 17.5 percent in 2021. Instead of merely pointing fingers at local government units (LGUs) for the low disbursement of the allotted cash subsidy fund, the DSWD should be proposing a concrete and effective plan to utilize the unspent fund in fulfillment of its mandate to provide the
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assistance needed by the poorest of the poor in this time of pandemic. Considering the unused amount under the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) from Bayanihan 1 and the standby funds now provided under Section 10 (m) of Bayanihan 2 amounting to ₱6 Billion, may we request for the following information from the DSWD: a) What is the Department’s final plan and program to help the poor by way of effectively spending the multi billion-peso funds for SAP? The initial response of the agency during its budget hearing in the Senate was to provide livelihood opportunities. How will this be done and who are its target beneficiaries? It has been three (3) months since the Bayanihan 1 had lapsed, and, still, in the report under the Bayanihan 2, after a month of its implementation, there has been consistent failure to come up with a concrete and detailed plan to assist our poor and lowincome households. b) Can the DSWD propose a timetable indicating the start and duration of its recovery intervention program for poor households outside the 4Ps program? A detailed plan and report similar to that provided in the usual Weekly Report of the President under Bayanihan 1 will be appreciated. 2) Under the section on “Establishing a Unified Database to Effectively Provide Socioeconomic Relief,” may we know how the lead agency is implementing this program? May we also know how the said program integrates the objectives and directives of Republic Act 11315, otherwise known as the “Act Establishing Community-Based Monitoring System”? 3) On the matter of Public Utility Vehicles a. The Monthly Report of the President did not specifically discuss its interventions in the public transportation sector. It only mentioned that it is distributing emergency subsidies to drivers and operators. May we be provided with the following information in the next report: i. Baseline data on drivers of jeepneys, UV Express, city and provincial buses affected by the limited number of routes allowed; ii. The standard in allowing the routes to operate; iii. The number of target beneficiaries, areas of assistance and fund utilization of the SAP Program for Transportation Industry. 4) On the Other Forms of Assistance and partnership with LGUs, the Landbank of the Philippines reported that they are providing 2
assistance to LGUs under their Emergency Loan Assistance to LGUs (HEAL). May we know how many LGUs have so far applied under this program and may we be provided with at least a provincial or regional disaggregated data of the LGUs who applied for the loan assistance? 5) On the matter of continuing efforts of information dissemination, we wish to call out the confusing and (sometimes) convoluted messages that administration is sending to the public. May we be clarified about the position of the government if they are encouraging people to stay at home, or are they really inviting people to go on vacation and sight-seeing despite the unabated rise of COVID-19 cases that have put the Philippines in the list of Top 20 nations in the world with the most number of infections even if the government has placed a large swath of our country and economy under a prolonged lockdown for more than 200 days? 6) Under Item II on “Enhancement of the Healthcare System Capacity to Control and Eliminate COVID-19”, we wish to point out that: a. Section 4, sub-section 3(d) of the Bayanihan 2 ensures the delivery of uninterrupted immunization program against preventable diseases for everyone, especially the children. May we know the status of DOH’s Expanded Immunization Program particularly its vaccination efforts on Polio, Hepatitis B and Tetanus elimination which recorded a serious decline even before the COVID-19 pandemic? b. The report failed to inform the Congress about the following data which are crucial in further addressing the pandemic: i. While the current ratio of contact tracer to population that is reflected in the report seems a little modest, may we know the turnaround time from when a reported positive case is sent to a tracer and how much time will he/she take to visit the patient and conduct tracing? Reports from the ground to our office tell that it takes one (1) week before a contact tracer is able to reach a COVID-19 positive patient which affects the effectivity of the government’s contact tracing effort in most LGUs, and ultimately hinders the overall strategy to contain the spread of the virus in a locality. ii. Specific guidelines in testing healthcare workers, in light of reports about health professionals still dying unnecessarily, or suffering from severe infections. There is information that many health workers exposed to COVID-19 suspected patients but are
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asymptomatic are not being tested due to these unclear guidelines. iii. The online electronic application system used by the national government to provide effective contact tracing as required by the Bayanihan 2. We hope to be provided with the aforementioned information in or before the next report. We put on record our observation that despite our low critical mortality rate due to our frontline healthcare worker’s dedicated service of taking care our severely and critically ill patients, the government is not effectively doing its job of controlling and reducing the transmission of the virus due to slow and ineffective contact tracing efforts. We think this is contributory to the ever rising number of infections here, that has placed our country in the list of Top 20 countries with COVID-19, and has earned for us the opprobrium of having the highest number of infections in the whole of Southeast Asia. 7) The problem with the distribution of the Special Risk Allowance (SRA) for health workers has been a persistent issue and a recurring complaint of healthcare professionals. The Bayanihan 2 Monthly Report confirmed that the DOH just recently submitted to the DBM its cost estimates regarding SRA and hazard pay of private and public healthcare workers. What is the cause of this delay? 8) We observe the slow rate of utilization of allotted funds and the relatively low accomplishment in the area of building COVID-19 response facilities under the DPWH. May the next report include the target date of completing the 394 COVID-19 quarantine facilities as mandated in Bayanihan 2? May we also know the status of the government plan and protocol in requiring all COVID-19 cases to stay in government-approved isolation facilities? The said plan has been approved by the IATF-EID but has been supposedly “held in abeyance pending consultations with LGUs.” 9) We appreciate the DOH’s efforts in engaging more enterprises to conduct clinical trials for the COVID-19 vaccines. We wish to be regularly updated on this matter in the next and subsequent reports. 10) We commend the DPWH in finally providing bike lanes along EDSA. However, EDSA should also link together the many city-level bike lanes so it we can allow bikers to move safely around the metropolis entirely by using bicycles. May we know if there is a comprehensive plan to link the bike lanes in EDSA among the cities in Metro Manila in partnership with LGUs?
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11) The EDSA bus way has been a collaborative project of the DOTr, MMDA and DPWH aimed to reform our city bus system and reduce the risk of exposure of the commuters as indicated in the report. Despite denying that they knew about the selection of the provider of the cashless or “beep” cards for commuters, these agencies, nonetheless, have the power to suspend the mandatory use of the beep cards along Edsa busway. We urge the said agencies to be more pro-active and solicitous of the welfare of the commuting public, ensuring, for example, that the use of a cashless payment system is inclusive and takes due regard of the plight of the lowincome workers, students and other disadvantaged groups. We hope for a response on this suggestion, and any other update on related matters in the next Monthly Report. 12) On the matter of “MSMEs and other Key Sectors”, the DTI data released in August 2020 shows that there are 998,342 micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the Philippines. While they carry the burden of keeping the local economy afloat, they are struggling to survive and hoping that they can rely on the much needed assistance from the national government. We wish to point out the following: a. Section 4 (bb) of the Bayanihan 2 provides that the Philippine Guarantee Corporation (PhilGuarantee) will arrange a loan portfolio of partner financial institutions for eligible MSMEs. The budget allotted to the said agency under Sec. 10 amounts to ₱5 billion. However, they were only able to serve 3,000 MSMEs in collaboration with participating banks. May we know the number of target MSMEs that they are targeting to assist? May we likewise get assurance that they will scale up the availment level of their loan portfolio? b. The DTI- Small Business Corporation reported that they received 24,991 applications under its CARES program. The budget allotted to the said agency amounts to ₱10 billion in Section 10 of the Bayanihan 2. However, they were just able to approve 7,560 applications. May we also know the number of target MSMEs that they are targeting to assist? Can we also please level up the coverage of the program? 13) Section 10 of the Bayanihan 2 provides ₱24 billion cash loan for the DA- Agricultural Credit Policy Council to aid qualified farmers and fisherfolks. May we know the status of this program in the next report? 14) We recommend to scale up the Department of Agriculture’s program on Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita (KAK). May we know how many LGUs have availed of this program, their respective locations, and the volume of products distributed so far? 5
15) A 60-day moratorium for loans is guaranteed in accordance with Section 4 (uu) of the Bayanihan 2. However, there are several reports that certain banks and lending institutions are threatening and even enforcing the foreclosure of loans. What is the BSP’s effort in implementing this provision of the Bayanihan 2? 16) We appreciate the inclusion in the next report of the loans and grants given to the national government for its COVID-19 response. For your consideration, please. Thank you very much.
LEILA M. DE LIMA Chairperson Committee on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development
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