THE House of Representatives yesterday approved on third and final reading House Bill No. 9411 or the proposed Bayanihan 3 on a vote of 238 in favor, no objection, and only one abstention.
Passage of the bill was never in doubt due to the support of 298 members of the chamber who had earlier signed on as co-authors of Speaker Lord Allan Velasco.
Velasco lauded the speedy action of his colleagues saying the bill will provide much-needed help to less fortunate Filipino families who are bearing the brunt of the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The P401-billion lifeline measure outlines additional interventions to ensure that our kababayans are provided direct emergency and social amelioration, have sustainable sources of income, and have stable access to affordable food and quality health services,” Velasco said.
At the center of the proposed legislation is a P216-billion funding for two rounds of cash aid for 108 million Filipinos in equal tranches of P1,000 each.
Also provided for in the bill are allocations for wage subsidies, emergency assistance to quarantine-affected households, assistance to displaced workers, national nutrition, financial assistance to agri-fishery sector and cooperatives, medical assistance to indigents, local government support, free COVID-testing for seafarers and other overseas Filipino workers, support to basic and higher education, and pension and gratuity fund for retired military and uniformed personnel.
It is the last, however, that is generating controversy as Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman pointed out that the P54.6 billion allocated for the military and other uniformed personnel is bigger than the combined appropriations for assistance to displaced/disadvantaged workers (P25.0-B), medical assistance to indigents (P9.0-B), local government support fund (P3.0-B), support to basic education and higher education (P4.5-B), national nutrition (P6.0-B), and assistance to cooperatives (P2.0-B).
In explaining his abstention, Lagman said the bill suffers from a constitutional infirmity because of the absence of a certification from the National Treasurer that funding is actually available — a requirement set under Section 25 (4) Article VI.
“Bayanihan 3 does not comply with the mandatory requirement of the Constitution. Upon verification from National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon, she said that there has been no formal request from the House of Representatives for the issuance of a certificate of availability of funds for Bayanihan 3. She added, however, that during discussions with the proponents of Bayanihan 3, she verbally informed them that presently there are no funds available,” the opposition lawmaker pointed out.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III reiterated the Senate does not have the time to tackle the Bayanihan 3 measure before Congress goes on sine die adjournment on June 4.
Sotto said the Senate has only two more working days (Wednesday and Thursday) before it takes a sine die adjournment.
“Time constraints. It’s still in the committee level,” Sotto said, adding that the passage of the Bayanihan 3 was not even discussed when they had a Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council last week.
He said senators will be passing priority measures, including those for economic recovery amid the pandemic, during the last week of their work. — With Raymond Africa
