BY JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR and RAYMOND AFRICA
BUDGET Secretary Wendel Avisado yesterday said some P6.4 billion of the Bayanihan 2 funds were not obligated before the law expired last Wednesday and is expected to be reverted back to the Bureau of Treasury.
Avisado, in an interview with radio DzRH, said the figure may become lower once the different departments and bureaus complete their submission of “statement of appropriation, allotment, obligation, disbursement and balances” on the budget spending by July 15.
He said the DBM has released P140 billion in Bayanihan 2 funds to the different departments and offices that are part of the government’s response strategy against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
“In our latest report, only P6.4 billion has not been obligated. Which means, from P18 billion (in May 31), as of June 5, it went down to P6 billion,” he said.
Avisado said unobligated funds are P1.7 billion under the Department of Education (DepEd), P1.2 billion under the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), P1 billion under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), P658 million under the Department of Agriculture (DA), P580 million under the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), and P348 million under the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA).
Malacañang did not extend the already stretched out effectivity of Bayanihan 2, which lapsed on June 30. The law was originally set to expire last December 2020 but was extended for another six months to give the government more time to obligate and spend the funds appropriated by Congress.
Avisado said despite the expiration of the Bayanihan 2, the government still has funds that it can use for its anti- COVID-19 efforts which will be sourced from the 2020 and 2021 budgets, which are both effective until December 31, 2021.
Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara, Senate finance committee chairman, said a number of the law’s provisions will continue to be in effect while the country remains under a state of national emergency.
These cover the benefits to health care workers (HCWs), which include the compensation for those who get infected with COVID-19 while on duty; the grant of a special risk allowance and actual hazard duty pay for HCWs serving in the front lines; medical expense coverage in case of exposure to COVID or work-related injury or disease; and the provision of life insurance, accommodation, transportation, and meals.
“The battle against COVID-19 and its variants does not end with the expiry of these laws so we must continue to provide support to our health workers at least until the state of national emergency is lifted by the President,” Angara said.
Under Bayanihan 2, public and private health workers who contract COVID-19 while in the line of duty are compensated as follows: P15,000 in case of sickness for a mild or moderate case; P100,000 for severe and critical cases; and P1 million in case of death.
Angara said that apart from the benefits to health workers, the provision of financial relief to agrarian reform beneficiaries will also continue.
Angara said Bayanihan 2 also provides that the payment of interests, penalties, and surcharges of loans used for land acquisition to any and all government agencies and government owned or controlled corporations shall be condoned and the remaining original principal value will be restructured without interest.
For flagship infrastructure projects, he said the waiver on all permits and licenses, including local government permits, licenses, clearances and registration requirements will continue until the middle of September 2021.
In the case of private projects that are either nationally significant, with high economic returns or high employment potential, the waiver on permits, licenses, certificates, clearances, consents, authorizations or resolutions by national government agencies, except those relating to taxes, duties, border control and environmental laws and regulations may be enjoyed during the state of national emergency and the economic rehabilitation period or until the last day of June 2022, whichever is later.
To promote business continuity and capacity building, an exemption from compulsory notification of mergers and acquisitions with transaction values below P50 billion will be granted if these are entered into within a period of two years from the effectivity of Bayanihan 2. The exemption from the Philippine Competition Commission’s review of such mergers and acquisitions will also be in place until the middle of September 2021.
Angara said there will be no phase-out of any modality of public utility vehicle while the transport industry is transitioning to a new normal.
The net operating loss of businesses or enterprises for taxable years 2020 and 2021 shall be carried over as a deduction from gross income for the next five consecutive taxable years immediately following the year of such loss.
The COVID-19 National Referral System, jointly developed by the Philippine Red Cross and DOH, will continue to provide patients with a fast and efficient way to locate and avail of the services of hospitals, clinics, isolation centers, other health facilities, blood banks, convalescent plasma facilities and ambulance systems.
Other provisions under the Bayanihan 2 that will continue after June 30 are as follows: Lifting of the 30 percent cap on the quick response fund; additional direct provisional advances, with or without interest, by the BSP to the national government, which shall be availed of within two years from the effectivity of the law; encourage the BSP and SEC to adopt measures, including relaxation of regulatory and statutory restrictions and requirements, for a period not exceeding one year from the effectivity of the law; prohibition on private schools, colleges and universities receiving grants from retrenching their employees for a period of nine months from receipt of grant; and repeal of Sec. 127(B) of the National Internal Revenue Code, including the tax on the sale, barter or exchange of shares of stock listed and traded through initial public offering.
