Talk is cheap, Panelo tells opposition

Instead of complaining about how small the cash aid is, let us dare each other. Give your one-month salaries, I will donate mine

Put your money where your mouths are.

That’s practically the messaging by the President’s chief legal counsel, Secretary Salvador Panelo, Sunday to opposition leaders who belittled the government’s latest cash aid of P1,000 per person of P4,000 per family.

Amounting to a total of P23 billion, the cash aid was approved for those workers affected by the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) within Metro Manila and the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Rizal and Bulacan.

The ECQ expired yesterday and was relaxed to the less stringent modified ECQ until 30 April.

Panelo got back at Vice President Leni Robredo and Senators Risa Hontiveros and Panfilo Lacson for their scathing attack by urging them to donate at least one month of their respective salaries.

“I will pose a challenge to the three of you and those who are complaining. Instead of complaining about how small the cash aid is, let us dare each other. Give your one-month salaries, I will donate mine,” Panelo said.

He also took a potshot at former Vice President Jojo Binay.

“To (the) opposition, if possible, stop criticizing the government for a while, VP Leni, Jejomar Binay, we have a P23 billion budget for 22.9 million Filipinos” he said.

Panelo also chided Senators Imee Marcos and Joel Villanueva for saying the aid was too small.

“You too Imee Marcos, I’m really disappointed with you, I did not expect you can say something like that. Senators Joel and Lacson too, donate your salaries to increase the amount of cash assistance,” he added.

According to Panelo, “the government is doing its best to resolve the problems that our nation is facing. Let us help each other.”

Robredo said in her radio program that the P1,000 cash aid is not enough for the families who are affected by the two-week lockdown.

“The P1,000 is only equivalent to some days of work. So, this is our problem with the ECQ extension,” she said.

Meanwhile, Marcos said “even a great Ilocano will be having a hard time budgeting the P1,000 aid.”

With two weeks of the ECQ at NCR Plus, the Department of Health (DoH) recorded 11,618 new coronavirus diseases (Covid-19) cases, bringing the total active cases to 146,519 and the overall cases since the start of the pandemic to 864,868.

Of the active cases, 98.8 percent were mild, 1.7 percent asymptomatic, 0.6 percent severe, 0.34 moderate and 0.5 percent in need of critical care.