SENATE President Vicente Sotto III gave assurances on Wednesday the P401-billion Bayanihan to Arise as One Act (Bayanihan 3) is on the Senate priority agenda even as lawmakers are poised to adjourn regular sessions next week when Congress goes on its scheduled recess from June 5 to July 25. This, even if the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac) excluded it from its list of priority measures earlier.
“Bayanihan 3 will be a priority,” the Senate leader affirmed after the House of Representatives approved on second reading its version of the Bayanihan 3 bill Tuesday night.
The funding measure, the third package under government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, aims to grant anew government assistance to workers who lost their jobs as well as small businesses that closed shop, in a bid to revive the economy.
In separate interviews, Senators Sherwin Gatchalian, Risa Hontiveros and Juan Edgardo Angara, however, earlier signalled their determination to scrutinize and use up the remaining Bayanihan2 fund and the “extended” 2020 national budget before Congress enacts a new Bayanihan law.
It was reported earlier that three more new versions of Bayanihan 3 bills were filed by Senate President Sotto, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto and Senator Emmanuel Pacquiao. These were referred to the Committee on Finance for public hearings before these are endorsed for plenary deliberations and approval. Then, the final version adopted by the Senate and the House is submitted to Malacañang for signing into law.
Despite its urgency, the Ledac has excluded Bayanihan 3 on its list of priority measures, a House leader said.
In Ugnayan Sa Batasan news forum, House Committee on Economic Affairs Chairman Sharon Garin admitted that the Bayanihan, which the lower chamber approved on second reading Tuesday night, is not part of the Ledac priorities.
“The Bayanihan 3 is not their priority but it’s priority of the House. It’s part of the legislative so we are pushing for it. Hopefully, we get the consensus [with the Senate and Executive],” said Garin.
“We have been meeting with the Executive consistently about Bayanihan 3. I don’t think it’s not that they don’t want it, it’s just that we have to arrive with the right programs that we want implemented,” she pointed out.
But Garin said Congress and the Executive are still in talks on where the total funding for third Bayanihan law will come from.
“It was the first time to present the Bayanihan 3 to the Ledac. But they were listening on the logic behind why [we need it],” she added.
According to Garin, the measure’s being coauthored by 298 lawmakers is a “huge” signal from the House that it desires passage of the Bayanihan 3.
“This is the first time I’ve seen that one bill has two pages of authors, I think 297 or 298. That’s 99 percent of the members of the House,” Garin said.
“We can fix it more in the Senate, in the bicameral and through [further] consultation and that it’s something I think we all agree on,” she said.
Garin said the House is eyeing third and final reading approval of the measures next week.
In a separate news conference, Marikina Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo said Bayanihan 3 is what the country needs to help the economy avert losses and sustain long-term growth.
“We are confident that this measure will help overcome the ongoing crises by allocating government resources to those who need it the most,” Quimbo said, one of the principal authors of the Bayanihan 3.
The P401-billion bill is divided into 3 phases. Phase 1 amounts to P165.9 billion; Phase 2, P186 billion; and Phase 3, P48.6 billion. Funding for Phases 2 and 3 will remain as standby funds, which would depend on the certification of availability of funds to be issued by the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).
Late Tuesday, the House of Representatives approved on second reading the proposed P401-billion measure, set to provide financial assistance to all Filipinos impacted by the pandemic, promote capacity-building programs, and revive gravely-affected sectors like agriculture and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). It is lower than the technical working group earlier-approved P405.5 billion.
Voting through viva voce, lawmakers approved House Bill 9411. It is expected to be approved on final reading before sine die adjournment on June 2, according to Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, the House ways and means panel head.
House Committee on Economic Affairs chief Garin underscored the three key economic interventions inscribed in the bill, namely kalinga (support), kabuhayan (livelihood), and kalusugan (health).
The bill inlcudes a P2,000 ayuda for all Filipinos, to be disbursed in two tranches.
The bill provides the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) a total of P30 billion to carry out Emergency Assistance to Affected Households (AICS) with P24 billion to be disbursed in the next two phases.
To protect MSMEs, a total of P20 billion shall be earmarked for small business wage subsidies (SBWS) and disbursed in three phases.
The bill also strengthens Republic Act 11037 or the Masustansyang Pagkain para sa Batang Pilipino Act of 2017, and Republic Act 11148 or Kalusugan at Nutrisyon ng Mag-Nanay Act P5 billion.
Standby funds of P30 billion shall also be earmarked to help the agri-fishery sector, to be disbursed in two phases. Further, medical assistance to indigents and free swab tests for seafarers and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are incorporated in the bill.
The bill supports basic education through the procurement of laptops for teachers, mobile and Internet allowance for Department of Education (DepEd) personnel, distance learning modalities (online and broadcast platforms), radio-based instruction infrastructure (Last Mile Schools), and the provision of N95 masks for DepEd employees and teachers.
For revenue sources, the bill allows provisional advances by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to the national government not exceeding 10 percent of the average income of the National Government for FYs 2018 to 2020.
Image credits: Albert Calvelo/ Senate PRIB