Presidential aspirant Leni Robredo has pitched for the proper use of borrowed money as the government debt in the Philippines increased to Php 11.9 trillion.
Robredo said the money borrowed by the government from lenders must be used properly. Vice President’s statement came as the Senate probes mismanagement of COVID-19 response funds. A week before the Bureau of Treasury announced that the government’s debt increased to P11.9 trillion as of September.
“Alam mo, iyong utang is not necessarily bad… If I remember right, nasa 40 plus iyong debt-to-GDP ratio natin. Sabi natin, puwede pang umutang,” Robredo said.
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“Pero iyong problema ng utang natin, hindi natin nagamit—hindi natin nagastos nang tama… alam natin na umutang na tayo nang umutang, iyong korapsyon ang laki-laki pa rin,” she explained.
Robredo called on the proper use of COVID-19 response funds. Debt should also be controlled, she said.
“So anong use ng pag-utang natin kung iyong inutang natin mapupunta lang naman sa korapsyon?”
“So sa akin, ang pag-utang is not necessarily bad basta controlled iyong pag-utang and iyong paggamit ng inutang ay maayos.”
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The Philippines has added P2.12 trillion to its obligations since the start of the year.
The country added P1.69 trillion to its domestic obligations and P428.98 billion to its foreign debt.
A Senate inquiry on the use of government’s pandemic response funds has found out that the budget department’s procurement service awarded billions of pesos worth of government contracts to the company “that only had less than a million pesos in paid-up capital.” (AW)
