By Butch Fernandez & Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz
LAWMAKERS on Sunday reiterated willingness to tackle measures to help businesses and workers recover from Covid-related disruptions, as they await Palace’s final confirmation of the date for a special session for the purpose.
And, unlike the Bayanihan 1 law which mostly comprised outright doles amid the emergency situation from the forced lockdowns to stop Covid-19’s spread, the bulk of Bayanihan 2 will go to lending to businesses and sectors disrupted by the pandemic, and to ramp up testing and contact tracing to fight the virus, Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara said over the weekend.
Thus, timely passage of the second measure, officially called Bayanihan to Recover as One Act—in contrast to the first Bayanihan to Heal as One —is of urgency, given the need to help businesses and workers get back on their feet, and grow the economy, he pointed out in a radio interview.
Angara, chairman of Finance Committee endorsing the money measure, gave assurances of the Senate’s readiness to frontload approval of the awaited funding that senators trimmed from P157 billion to P140 billion before their sine die adjournment last June 5.
They approved it on second reading, but could not proceed to third reading, as the Executive failed to send a certificate of urgency that would have allowed the chamber to shortcircuit the three-day requirement between second- and third-reading approvals.
The House of Representatives is expected to adopt the Senate version.
However, Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez said on Sunday the House has not yet received the formal request of President Duterte for Congress to hold a special session.
“We are still awaiting the official communication from the Palace. The House leadership under Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano is committed to approve the Bayanihan to Recover as One bill or the Bayanihan 2 to help President Rodrigo Duterte kickstart our economy and strengthen government’s fight against the spread of Covid-19,” said Romualdez.
The House and the Senate adjourned sine die last month without passing a consolidated version of Bayanihan 2, hence the need for a special session to be able to approve an enrolled bill before the reopening of the Congress on July 27.
Bayanihan 2 grants the Executive branch necessary powers to manage a second wave of widespread Covid-19 infections, should it come. It also contains provisions on economic packages that would aid economic activities hardest hit by the pandemic.
Senate Majority Leader M-iguel Zubiri, summing up the funding bill, gave a breakdown of the Bayanihan 2 as of June 4, showing how the Senate version trimmed the allocation to P140 billion:
Emergency subsidies—from P18 billion cut to P15 billion; prevention and control of other diseases—P12 billion to P10 billion; capital infusion to government financial institutions—P50 billion; support programs for impacted sectors—P21 billion to P17 billion; support to agriculture sector—P21 billion to P17 billion; assistance to transportation—P21 billion to P17 billion; assistance to tourism—P10 billion; Smart campuses—P3 billion; and Tesda training—P1 billion.
“It is a bit different from Bayanihan 1,” Angara said in Sunday’s radio interview, noting that “only a few ECQ [enhanced community quarantine areas] can receive livelihood assistance, like Cebu.”
Angara said the funding bill will also continue to “help jobless returning overseas Filipino workers [OFWs] and health workers.”
Funding hike sought
In the House, the deputy speaker for Finance has asked the Palace to increase its funding for the proposed economic stimulus package.
Deputy Speaker Luis Raymund Villafuerte said the House leaders have engaged senators and Executive Department officials in continuous discussions on the proposed provisions of Bayanihan 2.
Although state economic managers have said that Malacañang could only afford a P140-billion stimulus package, Villafuerte expressed the hope that Palace officials would exert greater effort to raise more resources to enable the government to spend more on stimulating the economy after the four-month pause in economic activity due to Covid-19.
Villafuerte thinks the proposed stimulus package needs to be raised to an initial P200 billion to clear the way to a strong and quick economic recovery.
With revenue collections down in the year’s first five months as a result of the economic standstill, economic managers have said the government could only afford to set aside P140 billion for a new Covid response and stimulus package.
Still, Villafuerte is optimistic that the Executive Department can raise more funds, in light of last week’s report that revenue collections by the Bureaus of Internal Revenue (BIR) and of Customs (BOC) started to pick up this June, with their combined take totaling P270.77 billion. This is P211.5 billion or 28 percent higher than what both agencies collected in the same month last year.
Meanwhile, the House leadership guaranteed the immediate passage of Bayanihan 2, in order to continue giving special powers to President Duterte to best deal with the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
Pending the special session, Lone San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan Rep. Florida P. Robes said passage of the second Bayanihan bill should be a priority once sessions resume for the Second Regular Session on July 27.
“We have done it before and I hope we will do it again. We should strive to set aside our political differences for the good of our countrymen who are now suffering because of this pandemic. There should be no delay once session resumes on July 27, 2020,” Robes said.
The House Committee of the Whole approved HB 6953 last June 4. It went pass the period of debate and sponsorship. Once session resumes, it is expected to go into a period of amendments before it is submitted for approval on second reading.
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