In Duterte’s budget for Philippines, critics see skewed priorities and a Covid-19 shortfall

The lion’s share of the US$93.7 billion budget is going to ministries and infrastructure projects, with only 4 per cent targeted to fight Covid-19

Analysts say Duterte is seeking to burnish his legacy through the infrastructure projects, while trying to help get his daughter elected as the next president

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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte set aside only 200 billion pesos in the budget to fight Covid-19. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 7:09pm, 1 Jan 2021Updated: 9:51pm, 1 Jan 2021

When Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte signed the country’s largest budget yet, totalling 4.5 trillion pesos (US$93.7 billion) for 2021, he pledged it would boost growth in an economy rendered comatose by prolonged movement restrictions and fund a mass vaccination campaign for Covid-19.

But competing priorities mean that three-quarters of the amount will go to operating expenses of government ministries, including debt payments, with the bulk of the rest going to an infrastructure building campaign and about 200 billion pesos – less than 4 per cent of the total budget – for the country’s response to the pandemic and purchasing and distributing Covid-19 vaccines.

Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Institute of Political and Electoral Reforms, an NGO, was not surprised.

“Remember, this is now election season,” he said, referring to how 2021 would see attempts by politicians to show off notable achievements, particularly in infrastructure works, ahead of the May 2022 presidential election.

While Duterte cannot seek re-election under the country’s constitution, he is seeking to cement his legacy, with analysts believing he will rush through some infrastructure projects and convince Filipino voters to elect his anointed successor – possibly his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, who was found by private pollster Pulse Asia last month to be at the top of the list of preferred candidates.