(FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Villafuerte on Friday, April 16, specifically said that the DOH failed to fully equip the frontliners with personal protective equipment (PPEs) that are essential in their daily battle to save COVID-19 patients and their lives as well.
The failure of DOH executives to use the P3 billion allotted in Republic Act (RA) No. 11494, or the “Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan 2), for the acquisition of PPEs “smacks of criminal neglect,” he added.
Villafuerte said the health officials’ continuing inaction “has put our medical frontliners at serious risk of infection, great harm and even death on a daily basis in the absence or shortage of such indispensable protection against the highly infectious pathogen.”
Deputy Speaker and Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte
(MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
This as Villafuerte reiterated has appeal for the passage of the so-called “Ayuda (aid) Bill”.
He said the fresh efforts by President Duterte’s economic managers to scour for funds for a possible supplemental budget in the event of future cash subsidies should prompt the Congress to prioritize the measure.
Congress resumes session on May 17 after its Lenten break.
The bill proposes a P10,000 emergency assistance to low-income families, which Villafuerte said would be a “lifeline to families hardest hit by COVID-19”.
“The Congress should give priority to the passage of the Ayuda bill or the proposed Bangon Pamilyang Pilipino (BPP) program when it resumes session as this would translate into a bigger and broader package to help poor and low-income families survive the pandemic-driven global recession,” he appealed anew.
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