NAKASALALAY sa awa ng mga foreign lender o mga dayuhang organisasyon na nagpapautang o inuutangan ng Pilipinas ang kaligtasan ng sambayanang Pilipino sa COVID-19.
Ito ang pahayag ni Anakalusugan party-list Rep. Mike Defensor dahil walang kasiguraduhan na makabibili ng sapat na COVID-19 vaccines ang bansa matapos hindi ito pondohan ng gobyerno sa 2021 national budget.

“While our officials are quarreling on whether we missed the bus or dropped the ball on the Pfizer vaccine, funding for our procurement remains uncertain,”ayon sa mambabatas.

“Thanks to Congress, which, ironically, opted to prefer loans mostly from foreign sources, instead of the taxes we pay to the government, to fund the purchase of vaccines against the highly infectious new coronavirus,” dagdag pa nito.

Ayon sa mambabatas, P2.5 billion lamang ang inirekomenda ng Malacanang na ipambibili ng COVID-19 vaccine na kabilang sa  inaprubahan naman sa Bicameral conference committee.

“Assuming we can get the injections at $10 (P500) per dose, which would probably be the lowest price, and two doses are needed for complete immunization, P2.5 billion is good for 2.5 million Filipinos at an average of P1,000, or just 10 percent of the government’s initial vaccination target of 25 million to 30 million of our population,” ani Defensor.

“Its the only vaccine procurement allocation that is sure of tax revenue support, meaning it will be funded out of people’s taxes as it is part of programmed appropriations in the proposed budget for next year,” pahayag pa nito.

Unang sinabi ng dalawang Kapulungan ng Kongreso na P72.5 billion ang inilaang pondo sa pambili ng COVID-19 vaccines subalit P70 billion dito ay naka-unprogram o wala pang kasiguraduhan kung saan kukunin ang pondo.

“An un-programmed appropriation is available only if there is excess tax collections, there is a new tax source or there are loans. Since it is unlikely that there would be excess collections or a new tax because of the pandemic, borrowings will be the funding source for vaccine procurement,” dagdag pa ni Defensor.

Tiniyak umano ni Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez sa Bicam members na mayroong magpapautang sa Pilipinas para makabili ng sapat na bakuna para sa mga Pilipino.

“Nonetheless, the preference for borrowings over sure tax revenues to get our weary people out of this pandemic speaks volume of our sense of priorities,” ani Defensor.

Nabatid sa mambabatas na umaabot sa P182.8 billion ang na-realign na budget subalit kahit singko ay hindi ito inilaan para pambili ng bakuna na mahalaga umano para mailigtas ang buhay ng mga Pilipino sa COVID-19 at makabangon ang ekonomiya ng bansa. (BERNARD TAGUINOD)