Amid uncertainty over when the price of oil stabilizes, Deputy Speaker Albee Benitez said that Congress is scouring this year’s P6.7-trillion budget for sources of funds to help mitigate the impact of the oil crisis on the people.
“What we’re doing is, we’re looking at all the appropriations of the ₱6.7-T budget made by Congress, where we can realign or reappropriate funds to combat the rise in prices,” Benitez said in a radio interview Monday.
The lawmaker also revealed that top of the agenda of the Legislative Energy Action Development (LEAD) Joint Committee hearing on Monday is identifying which programs could be de-prioritized so their funds could instead be directed towards helping targeted sectors.
Benitez also underscored the need to make financial assistance more targeted, as a blanket approach to aid would be unsustainable for the government.
He said that among the allocations being looked at is the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections scheduled on November 2, especially with ongoing calls for its postponement.
Earlier, Benitez said he would “rather use the allocated P14 billion to P15 billion for the elections to help those affected by the crisis.”
Benitez also underscored the need to make financial assistance more targeted, as a blanket approach to aid would be unsustainable for the government.
The sectors he said should be top priorities are agriculture, fisheries, public transportation, and logistics distribution, among others.
“Let’s just make our approach to financial assistance more targeted. Let’s not do it like it’s for everyone because we can’t handle it. We might just go bankrupt, and we won’t even meet our goal or objective,” he warned.
The solon also said that Congress supports the government’s steps to deal with the crisis and saving on expenses.
He went further by suggesting that lawmakers donate their salary to help the cause.
“I will suggest that perhaps the 6 months’ salary of the congressmen should just be donated to this crisis,” he said.
