Vice President Leni Robredo is eyeing to set aside PHP 216-billion worth of cash assistance or ayuda to assist families who were affected by lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic within her first 100 days if ever she will be elected as the president in the 2022 national elections.
"In our first 100 days, we will focus on addressing our most urgent problem — controlling the pandemic and mitigating its impact on our people’s lives. We will set aside P216 billion in the national budget for ayuda distribution to protect families from hunger and provide them with their basic needs without being forced to go to work," Robredo said during her speech in the 47th Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry forum on Wednesday.
Robredo noted that her first 100 days in the office would also address some of the most pressing problems in the country today — the COVID-19 pandemic, poverty, joblessness, and hunger.
She will also focus on increasing support for healthcare workers, improving hospital capacity, making COVID testing more accessible to more Filipinos, ensuring vaccines for all, and increasing the capacity of local health units to allow them to dispense vaccines on their own.
“This means increasing support for our healthcare workers, improving hospital capacity, and making COVID testing more accessible to more Filipinos. We will ensure vaccines for all and increase the capacity of Local Health Units to allow them to dispense vaccines on their own. We will not stop at vaccines: We will start stockpiling different COVID treatment medicines and deploy them to areas where there are shortages," Robredo said.
Robredo also added that her administration will "accelerate the rollout of Universal Health Care by concentrating on enrolling every Filipino in the UHC system in the first 3 months."
“While people are signing up, we will start partnering with local health service providers to deliver health services,” she added.
However, the vice president admitted that it would be hard to implement the said measures if the public would not trust its government.
"All of these can be done only if we rebuild trust in our institutions—and that’s exactly what we are going to do. We will put our house in order and restore confidence in the Philippine government," she stated.
"We will continue to engage all of society in rebuilding our nation and making the lives of all Filipinos better, safer, healthier, and more secure."
