By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz & Butch Fernandez
THE House of Representatives has already moved to grant President Duterte enormous special powers, including direct operations of private businesses, a move seen by critics as “more dangerous” than the 2019 coronavirus pandemic.
The swift assent of the House, in contrast to the cautious stance of the Senate as it held its own special session on Monday, could dim hopes for a more unified final version by the two chambers in order to avert calling a bicameral conference panel to reconcile their respective bills.
Senate leaders earlier indicated they would readily grant spending authority for the President to have leeway to realign at least P200 billion—to as high as, in some estimates, P650 billion—in order to meet all urgent concerns arising from the spread of the Covid-19, which forced a Luzon-wide lockdown since March 17.
Earlier, both the Executive and Congress said funding would be needed as stimulus for the economy, support for affected business sectors, and immediate response to help millions of daily-wage earners by way of outright cash grants and food subsidies.
The Palace already certified as urgent House Bill 6616 or “An Act to declare the existence of a national emergency arising from the Covid-19 situation, and a national policy in connection therewith and authorizing the President of the Republic of the Philippines for a limited period and subject to restrictions, to exercise powers necessary and proper to carry out the declared national policy and for other purposes.”
It has been dubbed the “Bayanihan Act of 2020.”
With this, the approval of the bill on second reading and third reading in the House was expected within Monday.
No rush to give extra powers
Senators were not inclined to readily grant Malacañang an option to give President Duterte emergency powers to take over privately owned utilities.
“That is not how it will be approved in the Senate version,” Senate President Vicente Sotto III said Monday, adding: “Better wait for the final version.”
The Senate leader declined to elaborate on the scope of extra powers seen to facilitate acquisition of urgently needed supplies, saying only that it involves “Presidential authority to address the emergency crisis.”
On Sunday, Sotto had flatly stated they made no commitment to grant emergency powers to the President when Congress leaders met with Palace officials at the weekend to flesh out the agenda for the special session requested by the President. He said they will readily give spending authority, but not emergency powers.
Senator Imee Marcos replied with a capital “No” when asked if the Senate will promptly grant the President’s wish for extra powers.
For his part, Senate Minority Leader Frank Drilon admitted that the minority bloc had yet to firm up a final position on the issue.
“I have not seen how the bill will look like,” said Drilon, adding he submitted amendments but had yet to know if these had been adopted. “I will wait for the committee report,” Drilon said but did not elaborate. None of the minority senators were able to attend, but Drilon insisted there was no boycott, just a coincidence.
Drilon was advised by doctors to stay away; Senators Risa Hontiveros and Francis Pangilinan are on quarantine, and Leila de Lima is under detention.
Finance committee chairman Sen. Pia Cayetano had been asked to sponsor the bill in the absence of Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara, the ways and means panel chief. Angara is on quarantine.
At least 12 senators attended Monday morning’s special session at the Senate. Besides Senate President Sotto, senators in attendance were: Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto and Senators Emmanuel Pacquiao, Panfilo Lacson, Richard Gordon, Christopher “Bong” Go, Lito Lapid, Bong Revilla, Francis Tolentino, Sherwin Gatchalian, Grace Poe and Cayetano.
Effect for 2 months
Under the House bill, the special powers will be in “effect only for two months or longer if the calamity will persist, as may be determined by the President.”
The bill seeks to adopt a unified national policy to address the public health emergency situation by minimizing the further spread of Covid-19; mobilizing assistance in the provision of basic necessities to affected individuals; providing health care such as medical tests and treatments; and undertaking a program for recovery and rehabilitation, including a social amelioration program and provision of safety nets to all affected sectors.
When the public interest so requires, the bill grants the President the power to direct the operation of any privately owned hospitals and medical and health facilities, hotels and other similar establishments to house health workers or serve as quarantine areas or temporary medical facilities. Also, public transportation can also be directed to ferry health workers to hospitals.
It also ensures that all local governments are acting in line with the rules and regulations and directives issued by the national government.
The measure allows the President to reprogram, reallocate and realign any appropriation in the 2020 national budget to fund measures to address and respond to the Covid-19 emergency, including social amelioration for affected communities, as well as recovery and rehabilitation of affected areas.
Under the bill, the Chief Executive can also allocate cash, funds and investments held by any government-owned or -controlled corporation (GOCC) or any national government agency for whatever purpose deemed necessary and desirable to address the Covid-19 crisis.
It said government programs, projects and activities in the 2019 and 2020 budgets can be canceled to generate savings and augment allocations for the Covid-19 response.
‘No abuse’
During the House Committee of the Whole hearing, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, meanwhile, assured the public that the special powers granted to the President will not be abused.
Medialdea said the special powers “would last only as long as Covid-19 crisis would last.”
He said the bill would equip the President and the Executive Branch with the legal authorities necessary to address the Covid-19 crisis while assuring that the Constitution remains in place amid this emergency.
“We assure Congress and our countrymen that this administration has no intent to abuse the powers we are asking of you today,” Medialdea said.
The executive secretary said part of the legal authority asked from Congress is the ability to purchase equipment for health workers expeditiously without being restricted by existing procurement laws.
He said the President also sought a special power to “freely reallocate” funds in the General Appropriations Act and augment allocations to address the coronavirus outbreak.
Medialdea, meanwhile, said that the provision, which grants the President the authority to direct operations of private establishments, is only a “standby power” that would not necessarily be exercised at all times.
“The power to take over is intended merely as a standby power in the event the crisis reaches its worst, when our most critical institutions are nearing a total shutdown and government is left with no choice but to take over these establishments,” he added.
Before approving the bill, Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, citing the World Health Organization (WHO), said if the government did not do anything, around 35 million Filipinos would have been infected by the Covid-19.
Of this number, Cayetano warned that 700,000 would have died.
Breakdown
According to Deputy Speaker for Finance Luis Raymund Villafuerte, of the P275 billion available funds for Covid-19 response, P200 billion will be allotted for the emergency subsidy program, while the remaining P75 billion will be used to fund health and other services.
Villafuerte said the government’s emergency subsidy program will provide relief to some 18 million Filipino households most affected by the coronavirus pandemic and for the treatment of persons infected with this lethal pathogen known as Covid-19.
“A major casualty of this virus is our resurgent economy, as the pandemic threatens to stop dead on its tracks the growth momentum that our country has been experiencing,” said Villafuerte in his sponsorship speech during Monday’s special session of the House of Representatives.
“But other than the infected persons themselves and more than the domestic economy, the biggest casualty from the pandemic are, collectively, the poor and low-income Filipinos who have lost their jobs or sources of livelihood as a result of the lockdown in Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon, as well as in other communities elsewhere where local government units have likewise restricted personal movement in the hope of containing Covid-19,” he said.
Villafuerte said the lockdowns in Luzon and elsewhere have brought the national and local economies almost to a standstill, thereby dislocating an estimated 18 million Filipino families who live by the no-work, no-pay system.
Procurement
Moreover, the bill shall authorize the President to procure, in the most expeditious manner, essential goods and services such as medical supplies, rented venues for quarantine centers, temporary medical facilities, and other services needed by the public health-care system during the health emergency as exceptions to the Procurement Law.
The medical testing and observation of patients under investigation and persons under monitoring shall be expedited, as well as the immediate treatment of patients suffering from Covid-19.
The bill also said the President can adopt measures to protect the people from hoarding, profiteering, injurious speculations, manipulation of prices, product deceptions, and cartels, monopolies and other unscrupulous business practices.
The bill also extends credit to productive sectors of the economy; liberalizes the grant of incentives for the manufacture and importation of necessary goods and equipment; requires businesses to prioritize and accept contracts for goods and services necessary to deal with the health emergency; and authorizes working alternative working arrangements for employees in the executive branch and in the private sector.
In terms of regulatory powers, the President can regulate the operation of public and private transportation; traffic on all roads and thoroughfares; the use of the country’s energy supply.
Under the penalty provision of the proposed measure, any person who violates the rules, regulations and directives of the national government will be imposed the punishment of two months in jail and a fine in the amount of P10,000 to P1 million.
The bill also creates a congressional oversight committee and mandates the President to submit a monthly report to Congress of all acts performed during this emergency.
Cayetano speech
In her sponsorship speech of what was billed as “Bayanihan to Heal as One Act,”
Cayetano underscored the need “to secure the welfare of the 24.6 million Filipino families, particularly the 18 million families who are poor or from the informal sector. Our immediate goal is to provide each of these 18 million with 5,000 to 8,000 pesos a month for the next two months. This will provide for their food and other daily needs, and will increase the chances that they will stay home and keep themselves safe and other Filipinos safe. “
The enhanced community quarantine in Luzon “is designed precisely, and if done properly, to slow the spread of the transmissions, to save lives, and allow us to expand our health system to test and treat our people,” she noted.
The government, she said, has weighed the economic cost of the drastic measures taken to contain the virus. “The island group of Luzon accounts for 72 percent of our gross domestic product or GDP. Without additional intervention, our positive GDP growth rate may reverse to negative 0.6 percent. If we are able to beat this virus in three months and redouble our efforts to recover our growth trajectory in the second half of the year, the economy can still grow by up to 4.6/4.3 percent,” the senator said, citing the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).
And, Cayetano continued, “Given the likely contraction in GDP growth, this year’s budget deficit will surely exceed the 3.6 percent threshold that our economic managers estimated before the enhanced community quarantine was put in place. It is crucial, however, for the government to keep fighting Covid-19 and to keep investing in our infrastructure program and our people so that economic sectors are jumpstarted and jobs are created as quickly as possible once the outbreak is behind us.”
Image credits: Bernard Testa, Louie Sauro Millang/ Senate PRIB via AP, Henzberg Austria/ Senate PRIB via AP