President Duterte expressed his worries after signing into law the national budget for 2022.
PRESIDENT DUTERTE — The Philippine President said that the increasing cases of Omicron variant in the country was bothering him, saying that it could further strain government resources.
In his speech at the Rizal Hall of the Malacañan Palace in Manila on Thursday, the President expressed his worries after he signed into law the PHP 5.024-trillion national budget for 2022.
The President also said that while the national budget for 2022 has allocated funds for the pandemic response, no one could say how fast the Omicron variant would spread.
“I’m leaving the office in a few months. Ang natatakot lang ako ‘yung response na naman natin and how it would intrude into the
budget,” President Duterte said. “We expect nandito pa ‘yung pandemic tumatakbo, pero kung ang hawaan talagang mabilis, then we will have the same problem again.“
READ ALSO: President Duterte Signs National Budget For 2022
According to the President, it wasn’t a matter of predicting how many will die from COVID-19, but rather preparing for how many
people that will be affected by the Omicron variant.
Cabinet Secretary and acting Presidential Spokesperson Karlo Nograles earlier said that much of the rehabilitation work and aid for areas ravaged by typhoon “Odette” a week before Christmas will also be funded by the PHP 5.024-trillion national budget for 2022.
The Department of Health (DOH), meanwhile, traced 22 close contacts of the country’s fourth Omicron case.
In a message to reporters on Wednesday, the DOH said that the count included the husband of the patient who had also tested positive for COVID-19.
The DOH also said that it was currently verifying the test results of all close contacts, and had coordinated with Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Units in order to check on their health status.
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