Drilon said this is necessary to ensure that the SAP — the P5,000 to P8,000 cash aid given to about 18-million Filipino families during the enhanced community quarantine — should still be included in the next year’s budget.
“There are items in the budget that we can tap to provide the much-needed cash subsidies to the poor,” he stressed. He pointed out lump sum appropriations are considered unconstitutional by the Supreme Court when it ruled on the so-called ”pork barrel” or the Priority Development Assistance Fund case.
As far as he is concerned, the Senate Minority Leader said the social service sector should receive a bigger budget over infrastructure during this pandemic.