Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said cash aids associated with the government’s coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) response should already be put to an end as the economy has shifted back to normal.
“The ayudas associated with the Covid-19 pandemic, such as in Bayanihan I and II, should cease as normalization is achieved and as we learn to live with the virus,” Diokno told reporters yesterday.
“These ayudas were justified when there were lockdowns and restricted mobility of citizens. But there are no more lockdowns, the President himself announced it himself in his SONA (State of the Nation Address). Citizens are now free to move around. Face-to-face schooling is back,” he added.
Diokno said as the Philippine economy has recovered from the unprecedented pandemic, it is now back to where it was before the COVID-19 crisis, with the opening of the economy and increasing mobility.
“With the normalization, it is more appropriate to continue the existing social protection programs — the DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) welfare grants for poor families with children of school age, support for senior citizens, assistance to displaced workers, etc.,” he said.
“Public finances are finite. They have to be allocated judiciously for programs and projects that would result to the greatest benefit for the greatest number of citizens and the overall welfare,” he added.
As an example, Diokno said there are new demands on public finances such as the recently approved law mandating higher assistance for indigent seniors.
“It’s better to use public resources for the indigent seniors, if funds are available, than for the ayudas meant for the general public,” he said.
Meanwhile, Diokno also told reporters over the weekend the proposed national budget for next year includes an appropriation for a study on the need and level of the next round of salary increases for government employees in 2024 onward.
The last tranche of the Salary Standardization Law of 2019, as signed by former President Rodrigo Duterte, will be implemented January 1 next year.
Asked if further salary hikes could be sustainable moving forward, Diokno said, “That will be part (of the) study.”