Thread by @znsuzara

1/x Okay, here goes my factchecking. I will explain this in Taglish para mas madali maintindihan.

For context, magkano na ang total budget releases for COVID response. Ayon sa DBM report, umabot na daw ito ng 568B.

https://twitter.com/philippinestar/status/1381472243608297474

2/x Anong mga kasama sa 568B? Basically merong mga fund releases authorized under Bayanihan 1 and 2 such as cash transfers ng DSWD, wage subsidies ng DOLE, those coursed through SSS and other COVID-related health and operational expenditures.

Source: dbm.gov.ph/index.php/prog…

3/x Now let’s focus on ayuda, and by ayuda, I mean direct cash transfers to beneficiaries.

How much of the 568B under Bayanihan 1 and 2 went to that?

At least 300B went to ayuda. Those were released to DSWD, DOLE, SSS, etc. Check the DBM report if you want more details.

4/x Under Bayanihan 1, at least 266B has been RELEASED to DSWD, DOLE and other depts.

Under Bayanihan 2, at least 34B has also been RELEASED by DBM.

Kung magkano ang total na nadistribute, I don’t know. Kung nakarating ba lahat sa tamang beneficiaries, I don’t know.

5/x So there’s at least 300B worth of ayuda under Bayanihan 1 and 2.

Notice the significant reduction in cash transfers/aid for poor people from Bayanihan 1 and 2.

Malaki di ba? From at least 266B, it went down to 34B.

6/x Tanong: May significant improvement ba sa health situation? Did we “flatten the curve”?

OBVIOUSLY HINDI. Mas lumala pa nga.

Tanong ulit: Kung mas lumala ang crisis, kelangan pa ba nh mga tap ng ayuda?

OBVIOUSLY YES.

7/x Di ba last year at least 300B was released for ayuda? Agree naman siguro ang lahat na kung experience last year ang pagbabasehan, kelangan ng mga 300B rin siguro sa current year’s budget di ba?

Just for context again, GDP losses amounted to about 1.8 trillion.

8/x Meron bang at least 300B for “ayuda” in the 2021 General Appropriations Act for similar types of ayuda?

In our article ni @jcpunongbayan and Luis Abad, we summarized the changes in 2020 GAA vs 2021 GAA by dept.

Ito iyon: rappler.com/voices/thought…

9/x In our view, the 2021 budget should include ayuda.

That’s why at the very least, the 2021 GAA should look like this:
a) the total budget allocations of departments for 2020 + b) Bayanihan 1 and 2.

The thing is, hindi nga ganon.

10/x I’ve tweeted a number of times that a large part of the fiscal space went to infrastructure.

So anong sinasabi nina SOF at Spox na sufficient ang 2021 budget for pandemic response? Bakit? Meron ba doon anything close to 300B for direct cash transfers and aid?

11/x Under Bayanihan 1, the biggest allocation went to cash transfers distributed by DSWD sa tulong ng mga LGUs.

Yung late natanggap na SAP which was distributed PAGKATAPOS na ng lockdown. Ayun. That’s it.

Wala nyan sa 2021 budget ng DSWD, bali-baliktarin mo man ang GAA.

12/x Want proof that there's no massive ayuda to the tune of 200B under DSWD as last year?

Well, here's a summary of the 2021 DSWD budget based on the General Appropriations Act. Included here as well some Bayanihan figures.

13/x Granted, the second to the last budget item can be tapped by DSWD, (i.e. "Protective Services for Individuals and Families in Difficult Circumstances")

Will 23.77B be enough?!?! We needed at least 200B worth of cash transfers last year! 209B nga ang total releases eh

14/x Let's check naman DOLE. Wage subsidies were also distributed by DOLE.

Wag na natin pag-usapan ang wage subsidies via SSS kasi wala naman sa 2021 Budget nyan. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

Here's the breakdown of the DOLE budget by its agencies.

15/x Based on the DBM report I linked earlier, there were such released under Bayanihan 1 and 2.

May similar amount ba sa 2021 DOLE budget in the General Apppropriations Act? WALA.

16/x The only budget item under DOLE-OSEC that significantly increased was "Livelihood and Emergency Employment"

Can that be tapped for ayuda? Yes.

Is 20B enough to help those who lost jobs? Well, kayo na ang humusga kung sapat ba iyan to help millions who lost jobs.

17/x If 20B was enough, I suppose DOLE wouldn't say in February that they needed a 100B additional budget for wage subsidies.

That was reported by BWorld but I don't know why the article can't be located anymore. Ito iyong title ng article na iyon though

18/x Let's go to DTI and DOT. Maraming nagsara na MSMEs di ba? Like permanenly shut down. We have among the highest number of firms that closed shops around Southeast Asia.

O sige na, we're not the worst when it comes to tourism. Global travel and tourism saw a slump naman.

19/x So sa Bayanihan 1 and 2 merong konti allocations for MSMEs. May 10B sa Bayanihan 2 released to the Small Business Corporation, a DTI attached GOCC to help small businesses.

Meron ba sa 2021 Budget na similar subsidy? WALA!

20/x What's in the 2021 DTI and DOT Budget and the General Appropriations Act?

Ayan. Namumula ang highlight sa matrix kasi kahit may economic crises, their budgets decreased, god knows why.

21/x Did you notice the subsidy for SB Corp for 2021? Heck. It's even LOWER than the subsidy pre-COVID times.

22/x What's our running total so of budget items in the 2021 GAA than can be tapped specifically for ayuda ASSUMING NO OTHER DISASTERS/EMERGENCIES ARISE FROM NOW UNTIL DEC 31, 2021?

DSWD - 24B
DOLE - 20B
DTI - 0
DOT -0

There's a measly 44B in the regular budgets of 4 depts.

23/x How can 44B be sufficient for ayuda???? How can they say that when that's not what the 2021 General Appropriations Act shows?

Alam ba nila talaga kung ano ang nasa 2021 GAA? Good heavens! This is the budget that the economic managers put together last year!

24/x They knew that the 2021 Budget was heavily skewed in favor of infrastructure! They said so many times last year during the budget hearings Build build build will be the vehicle for recovery!

So anong sinasabi nila ngayon that there's sufficient funds for ayuda?

25/x Wanna see the top recipient departments in the 2021 GAA?? Siguro kung hindi constitutionally mandated that education should have the highest allocation, it might have been overtaken by DPWH too!

I don't know about you guys, but this doesn't look like a pandemic budget to me

26/x If there really were sufficient funds in the 2021 General Appropriations Act, then why is Congress calling for a Bayanihan 3.

Why did they have to reallocate funds from Bayanihan 2 to give ayuda?

27/27 Oh c'mon there's nothing for ayuda, that's why they didn't extend the ECQ. That is also why despite record high COVID numbers and critical health capacity levels and patients being moved to Pangasinan, or even as far as Bicol, they brought the lockdown a notch lower!

P.S. In relation to this entire thread, please read @jcpunongbayan's article too. Ito na ang call ng maraming sector ng civil society na nakakausap namin nina @KenAbante

rappler.com/voices/thought…

Please also watch my Rappler interview where I talked about ayuda (or I must say, the lack thereof) a bit more at length.

I also explained other budget issues, terms, concepts and processes which I'm unable to explain succinctly on social media.