Duterte signs 2022 budget to fund recovery from pandemic

Manila, Dec 30 Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday signed the nearly $100 billion national budget for 2022 to fund the country's sustained recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

"The budget is set to inspire actions that focus on building resilience amidst the pandemic, sustaining the momentum towards recovery, and continuing the legacy of infrastructure development," Duterte said during the signing ceremony at the Malacanang presidential palace in Manila.

The 5.024 trillion pesos budget, 10 per cent higher than the 2021 budget, will prioritise the people's health by ensuring affordable and accessible healthcare for all Filipinos, Xinhua news agency quoted Duterte as saying.

To guarantee the streamlined operation of the current health system, the President said 88.9 billion pesos were allocated for the health facilities operations program and the procurement of drugs, medicines, and vaccines.

The budget allotted 17 billion pesos to the Human Resources for Health Deployment Program to fund the salaries and benefits of public health personnel.

He said the 2022 budget will also provide essential funding requirements to safeguard and support displaced workers affected by the Covid-19 pandemic to foster socio-economic recovery.

The Philippines has been grappling with the pandemic since 2020.

It now has over 2.8 million confirmed Covid-19 cases, including 51,213 deaths.

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