Cebu City eyes P1 billion budget for COVID-19

Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella is requesting a P1 billion budget for the measures to fight the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). |CDN Digital file photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City government will be allotting P1 billion for the putting up of necessary measures to fight the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19). 

Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella said that the money would not only be needed for the purchase of protective equipment for frontliners, but also for the test kits, preparing for the quarantine areas, and providing for assistance to the heavily affected residents or workers due to the quarantine.

Read more: 10.5K COVID-19 testing kits from China on their way to Cebu City

Labella has requested a special session from the Cebu City Council to tackle the supplemental budget as soon as possible within the next 24 hours. 

The council needs to approve the supplemental budget before it can be used. Since the city is under a state of calamity, the budget is a matter of urgency and a special session needs to be convened for its immediate release. 

Read more: Cebu City seeks to cushion economic impact of COVID-19

Councilor Raymond Alvin Garcia, the majority floor leader, assured the public the budget would be approved as soon as possible. 

“We have at least P19 billion in the bank. We have enough funds for that,” said Garcia. 

The budget will be released as a lump sum so items do not need to be specified for its use. 

The last time the mayor asked for a budget of P15 milion from the council for the Covid-19, it took two sessions to approve because the items were not specified. 

Garcia assured that this time, the budget would be approved faster and would not take more than 24 hours. 

The council is expected to convene on Thursday morning, March 19, 2020./dbs