A ₱1.5-Trillion Bill For Covid Recovery

The COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing government lockdowns in Metro Manila and elsewhere in the country have had tremendous impact on the country’s economic development and progress.

At the start of this year, the country was out to make up for the previous year’s budget delay, with Congress approving early in January a ₱4.1-trilllion National Budget for 2020, more than half of which was immediately released in January.

Then came COVID-19, starting in Wuhan, China, then spreading to the Philippines via a Chinese visitor, then on to the rest of the world. Along with the rise in infections and deaths, national economies were devastated.

The Philippines has been able to hold down the number of infections and deaths through an early lockdown of Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon, along with a declaration of a state of calamity in the rest of the country. This week, the government moved to address the economic impact of COVID-19 with a proposed ₱1.5-trillion economic stimulus bill.