P405 billion proposed to fund ‘lifeline measures’
THREE committees at the House of Representatives have approved a third Bayanihan bill which is composed primarily of “lifeline measures” worth P405.6 billion to extend financial aid to the poor amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
The committee on ways and means chaired by Albay Rep. Joey Salceda adopted the measure yesterday after it was approved by the committees on economic affairs and social services last Friday.
The consolidated Bayanihan 3 bill is entitled “An Act Providing for Additional Mechanisms to Bolster the Resiliency of the Philippine Economy and Providing Funds Therefore” or the proposed “Bayanihan to Arise as One” Act.
Marikina City Rep. Stella Quimbo, who authored one of the measures with Speaker Lord Allan Jay Velasco, said the P405.6 billion fund includes two rounds of cash assistance worth P1,000 for every beneficiary or a total of 108 billion Filipinos, regardless of their economic status.
Quimbo said they are hoping that those who are well-off would waive their cash aids so these could be given to those who are in dire need of financial assistance, especially the poorest of the poor.
The economist-lawmaker expects the bill to be discussed in the plenary when session resumes on May 17.
Salceda has said that government is looking at the proposal to temporarily increase mandatory dividend remittance of Government Owned and Controlled Corporations (GOCCs) from 50 percent to 75 percent to fund Bayanihan 3.
The proposal, which he said is worth P70 billion, would require an amendment to the Dividends Law or RA 7656.
Salceda has also proposed to allow the Department of Finance to make capital withdrawals from what he called were “obese” government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs).
The substitute Bayanihan 3 bill sets aside P30 billion for the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) as emergency fund for its assistance to individuals in crisis situation (AICS) program, P20 billion for the DOF, Social Security System (SSS) and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) as wage subsidies; P25 billion for the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) programs for displaced workers, P30 billion for the agri-fishery sector, and P10 billion for nutrition programs.
There would also be a P54.6-billion fund for the Pension and Gratuity Fund of retired military and the police, P9 billion for the Department Health’s “Medical Assistance to Indigents Program,” and P5 billion for the relief operations of local government units (LGUs).
A P5.6-billion fund would also be earmarked for the Department of Education’s procurement of laptops for teachers, internet connections, distance learning modules, face masks and other needs, while P400 million would be allocated under the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration’s (OWWA) for the RT-PCR tests of seafarers and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
The bill also suspends the collection of amortization payments for those living in government housing programs, and imposes a “no eviction or demolition policy” until the State of Public Health Emergency declared by the national government is lifted.
Taguig Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano said he and his allies would continue to push for their proposal to distribute P10,000 per family despite its exclusion from the consolidated version of the Bayanihan 3 bill.
Cayetano said while they commend the consolidation of his proposed “10K Ayuda” bill with the Bayanihan 3, the proposed amount is crucial to the government’s planned stimulus program.
“I think it was clear to our colleagues that the distribution of P10,000 cash aid should be at the heart of any stimulus program, recovery program, or rescue program,” he said.
Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte said their group will continue to push for the inclusion of the P10,000 cash aid provision once the consolidated Bayanihan 3 bill reaches the plenary.
Quezon City Rep. Alfred Vargas, chair of the social services panel, said the approval by two House committees of a consolidated version of the Bayanihan 3 bill assures millions of Filipinos of economic and social assistance during the pandemic.
“With the Bayanihan 3 approved at committee level, and with the full backing of the House members, I am very optimistic, as chair of the House Social Services Committee, that we will be able to extend to our people the economic and social support that they urgently need during this period of uncertainty,” Vargas said.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros yesterday filed a resolution urging the Commission on Audit to conduct a special audit on the more than P568-billiion government expenditure under the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act (Bayanihan 1) and Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan 2).
Hontiveros said Senate Resolution No. 710 will determine how the government spent the billions of pesos allotted under the two Bayanihan laws.
“The government has reportedly spent billions in taxpayers’ money but Filipinos have yet to feel a sigh of relief. Government must take a hard look in the mirror by doing a special audit of its financial decisions more than a year into the pandemic,” Hontiveros said.
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has said that the government has already released P568,014,985,628 for its COVID-19 response.
“A lot of healthcare workers have not yet received their hazard pays up to now, many families have not yet received financial assistance, we still lack in health facilities. If the P570 billion was spent right, why is it that there are patients who sleep on cartons outside of hospitals?” Hontiveros asked.
She said Malacañang must “faithfully” release all financial reports of the expenses in the two Bayanihan measures as required under Section 14 of the Bayanihan 2, which orders the Office of the President to submit a report to Congress every first Monday of the month.
She said the last financial report submitted by the Palace was on January 4, 2021.
The validity of Bayanihan 2 has been extended by Congress until June this year. — With Raymond Africa
