ALMOST P50 billion will be allocated for the Special Risk Allowance or SRA of the country’s health care workers, while the same amount will be allotted for the purchase of COVID-19 booster doses next year.
These were some of the “salient points” of the P5.024 trillion budget under the 2022 General Appropriations Bill approved today by the Bicameral Conference Committee during the Bicam meeting held at EDSA Shangri-La this morning.
According to House Committee on Appropriations chairman Eric Yap, the Lower House focused on the COVID-19 pandemic response.
It was agreed during the Bicam meeting that the funds for the SRA or health care workers and the purchase of booster shots are equally important since the country is still under a pandemic.
Aside from this, Yap mentioned that a P3.5-billion budget was also allotted to buy C-130 planes.
He said that during the height of the pandemic, the C-130 planes were vital tools in the delivery of “ayuda” to many people and transport of COVID-19 vaccines to different regions in the country.
When it comes to State Universities and Colleges or SUCs, P32 billion was allocated as funds for SUCs, especially that face-to-face classes are slowly being reintroduced.