World Health Organization said the Philippines already received over P6.5 billion or at least $130.4 million donations for the government’s efforts to fight COVID-19 in the country.
WHO, in its 39th situation report on the status of the country’s battle against the pandemic, reported that these donations came from non-government organizations, the private sector, and other international groups, including WHO.
The Project Ugnayan of the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation gave the largest donation of $29.1 million while the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) provided $19.2 million. San Miguel Corporation donated $15.22 million, and pharmaceutical company Unilab extended $12.08 million.
However, the Philippines’ loans and grants are not yet included in the P6.5 billion COVID-19 donations the WHO has reported.
The report showed that the government was also able to avail of a $1.1 billion loan from the World Bank and $1.5 billion from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) — a total of $2.6 billion, or P129.9 billion.
Just yesterday, the Philippines signed a commitment deal with China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for a $750 million loan for COVID-19 funds.
The $750-million loan agreement seals AIIB’s commitment to co-finance with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) the country’s COVID-19 Active Response and Expenditure Support (CARES) program.
“As of 9 June, WHO received US$ 670.7 million and an additional US$ 258.0 million in pledges to its global appeal. This includes €114 million from the European Union to support 80 priority countries with weakened health care systems and capacity, including the Philippines,” the WHO said in its report.
“The French government through its Development Agency AFD donated €2 million to fight COVID-19 in Southeast Asia, including laboratory strengthening support for RITM (Research Institute for Tropical Medicine),” it added.
The Bayanihan to Heal as One Act of 2020 also provided P270 billion to the national government.
Also read: Woman dies waiting for bus trip in Pasay City
Earlier reports showed that the debt of the Philippines slightly increased in March to P8.18 trillion, which is twice the approved 2020 budget.
According to new data from the Bureau of Treasury released on Thursday (May 1), the increase is only 0.1, from P8.17 trillion in February but 5.8 percent higher than P7.8 trillion in 2019.
Two-thirds of the total is local debt, which increased 1.2 percent month-on-month and 6.1 percent year-on-year to P5.51 trillion in March.