TWENTY-two local and business organizations have backed a special law being deliberated in Congress that will enable government to address the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic but cautioned against provisions that would realign government funds and take over private enterprises.
In urging for the immediate passage of “Bayanihan Act of 2020” at the House of Representatives and its counterpart bill in the Senate “We Heal as One Act,” the groups said the special law should only be in effect for two months and any extension should be enacted by Congress.
“We recommend that any law that is passed by Congress should be consistent with our constitutional and legal principles, and not be overly broad and over-reaching — in particular with realignment and reallocation of government and GOCC (government-owned and controlled corporation) funds that should consider the constitutional guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court, and take-over of private enterprises — in order to avoid constitutional challenges that would delay implementation (of the law),” the groups said in a statement.
Apart from limiting the duration of the law, the business groups also suggested authorizing the President or his designees to grant special permits and exemptions from bureaucratic requirements under existing laws and regulations to avoid delay in the deployment or utilization of the funds and procurement of needed requirements.
They urged authorizing the President to adopt measures to facilitate and/or minimize disruption to the supply chain, especially for basic commodities and services to the maximum extent possible.
Another suggestion put forward by the groups is for the provision of rehabilitation, special financing programs and/or stimulus package to help businesses – especially micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) – that are adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The funds, they said, will be used to help MSMEs pay workers to remain quarantined and, when the pandemic is under control, to rehire and resume normal operations.
The special law, the groups said, should include provisions that would support any fund-raising or other forms of assistance that the President may seek to get from foreign countries, multilateral organizations and the capital markets.
The groups said a second bill supplementing this special law may be necessary to cover some of its suggestions so as not to cause delay in the passage of the bill.
“ Cognizant that the re-allocated or re-aligned funds from government agencies and GOCCs may not be sufficient for the foregoing purposes, a second bill may provide additional funds to address both health and economic issues,” the business groups said.
The business groups pledged they will continue working with the government to fight COVID-19 with the assets and facilities at their disposal even as they committed to continue to support the health workers and medical establishments.
The business groups include the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Anvil Business Club, Australian-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Bankers Association of the Philippines, Canadian Commerce of the Philippines, European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce Inc., Investment House Association of the Philippines, Judicial Reform Initiative, Makati Business Club, Management Association of the Philippines, Microfinance Council of the Philippines, Organization of Socialized Housing Developers of the Philippines, People Management Association of the Philippines, Philippine Association of Securities Brokers and Dealers Inc., Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship, Philippine Hotel Owners Association, Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Inc., Shareholders’ Association of the Philippines, Subdivision and Housing Developers Association and Women’s Business Council Philippines.
‘Project Ugnayan’
Meanwhile, various business groups have raised P1.5 billion through the initiative “Project Ugnayan.”
The initiative aims to fund the distribution of grocery vouchers to urban poor residents in the Metro Manila Area.
The business groups supporting Project Ugnayan are (in alphabetical order): Aboitiz Group, ABS-CBN/Lopez Group, Alliance Global/Megaworld, AY Foundation and RCBC, Ayala Corp., Caritas Manila, Century Pacific, Concepcion Industrial Corp, DMCI, Gokongwei Group of Companies/Robinsons Retail Holdings, ICTSI, Jollibee, Leonio Group, Mercury Drug, Metrobank/GT Capital, Nutri-Asia, Oishi/Liwayway Marketing Group PDRF, PLDT/Metro Pacific Investments Corp., Puregold, San Miguel Corp., and SM/BDO, Sunlife of Canada, Suyen Corp.
More companies have signified their intention to contribute more resources to expand the reach of this project.
Guillermo Luz, project spokesman and chief resilience officer at the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF), said Project Ugnayan targets to distribute P1,000 gift certificates to over a million households in the poor communities of the greater Manila area.
