TOUCH me not.
A technical working group of the House of Representatives’ Defeat COVID-19 Committee on Wednesday approved a measure which seeks to impose for the next three years strict mandatory safety and physical distancing protocols being enforced now to avoid the further spread of the virus.
The new normal cluster of the panel, which is co-chaired by Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and majority leader Martin Romualdez, approved House Bill 6623, or the proposed “Better Normal for the Workplace, Communities and Public Spaces Act of 2020.”
The co-authors of the bill are deputy speakers Luis Villafuerte of Camarines Sur, Paolo Duterte of Davao City, Loren Legarda of Antique; majority leader Martin Romualdez; and Reps. Eric Yap (ACT-CIS party-list), Michael Defensor (Anakalusugan), and Jose Antonio Sy-Alvarado (Bulacan).
The bill aims to prepare and educate Filipinos for life after the lifting of the restrictions imposed by the national government and local government units (LGUs) to contain the spread of COVID-19 through new norms of social or physical distancing and safety measures in government and private offices, schools, commercial establishments and other public spaces.
Under HB 6623, the protocols under this new environment will be in place for three years or earlier, depending on the official declaration by President Duterte upon recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging and Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).
Aside from the mandatory wearing of masks and physical distancing of at least a meter, among the measures to be imposed in public places are the availability of handwashing or sanitizing stations and temperature checks.
In public transportation, physical distancing also applies when queuing for tickets and in the interiors of vehicles. Contactless payment mechanisms will be implemented, and passengers will be required to wash their hands or sanitize before boarding public utility vehicles (PUVs).
For schools and other learning institutions, on-site classes, sports and other extracurricular activities shall remain suspended subject to consultation with the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).
Online learning platforms will, in the meantime, be the primary mode of learning for students in all public and private schools.
Once on-site classes gradually resume, the number of classes should be reduced and staggered class days should be implemented to enable students and teachers to comply with physical distancing protocols and other safety measures.
Restaurants and other food service places may resume operations but initially only for take-out and delivery.
‘CURES’ BILL
Also on Wednesday, the social amelioration cluster of the committee approved House Bill No. 6709, which provides for a P1.5 trillion social amelioration program under the proposed “COVID-19 Unemployment Reduction Economic Stimulus (CURES) Act of 2020.”
The bill, which is authored by the Cayetano, Villafuerte, Leyte Rep. Rep. Lucy Torres-Gomez and other lawmakers will be approved by the mother panel on Thursday and will be endorsed to the plenary for sponsorship.
The measure is anchored on the principle that government spending on infrastructure is a vehicle towards economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic as it directly increases employment, adds to demand for goods and services through purchases of materials and equipment, and creates a multiplier effect through additional spending of hired workers.
The projects under the proposed CURES Act of 2020 shall target infrastructure building at the barangay level in areas of HEAL: Health for the construction or improvement of barangay municipal health centers; Education, for expansion of school buildings to decongest classrooms, technical vocational learning centers, establishment of digital education in the public educational system; Agriculture, for construction, repair or improvement of municipal provincial fish ports, trading centers; and Local roads and livelihood projects such as farm to market roads.
Villafuerte, who co-chairs the panel’s social amelioration cluster, said the measure is meant to complement President Duterte’s Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-Asa program, which, according to the National Housing Authority (NHA), has so far attracted some 53,000 city dwellers who have submitted online applications signifying their interest in returning to their home provinces.
He said the CURES fund will be automatically appropriated over and above the national budgets for the next three years, so such infrastructure development funds could be used at once to implement HEAL projects in the provinces.
As proposed in HB 6709, an initial P500 billion of the CURES Fund shall be released on the first year of this 2020-2022 economic stimulus and employment program, with P500 billion more for release on the second year, and the remaining P500 billion on the third and final year.
After the third year of the program’s implementation, the bill mandates Congress to enact legislation either extending CURES or terminating its funding. In case the program is terminated and there are un-obligated funds left, HB 6709 states that the said balance shall be made available for the general budgetary requirements of the succeeding year after the project’s termination.
MANDATORY IMMUNIZATION
Quezon Rep. Angelina Tan, chair of the House committee on health, urged the Department of Health (DOH) to ensure that its mandatory immunization will continue amid the COVID-19 pandemic to help prevent future outbreaks and protect children.
Tan, a physician by profession, said there are several initiatives in Congress in connection with the immunization program, such as the proposed creation of a national immunization advisory board and another measure for a school-based immunization program.
The lawmaker however said the DOH has to ensure that there will be an open, competitive bidding process in the procurement of vaccines so that no single manufacturer will be favored.
Late last year, the Department of Health (DOH) suspended the bidding for pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs), following claims by a group that it should look into the cost-effectiveness of PCV10 versus PCV13 and undergo public bidding as it is about to sign a new contract for vaccine stocks for the year.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III has already tasked the Health Technology Assessment Council (HTAC), which is mandated to review existing health programs of the DOH and PhilHealth in accordance with the Universal Health Care Law, “to review the NIP (National Immunization Program) in particular the Pneumococcal Vaccination Program in light of scientific evidence and the significant budget impact of this particular vaccine to the Department.”
The review came after it was reported that the World Health Organization (WHO) found that when it comes to pneumococcal vaccination for children PCV10 is just as effective as the PCV13 already being used by the DOH.
“Both vaccines exist. If the health assessment proves that both PCV10 and PCV13 have the same effects, then we need to go through a procurement process that’s open and competitive so the government can save on costs,” Tan said.
Rep. Adriano Ebcas of the Ako Padayon Pilipino party-list earlier filed a resolution urging the DOH to ensure the continued safe implementation of the mandated National Immunization Program for children despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The resolution also aims to secure and ensure a stable supply of available vaccines through the continued conduct of open, fair, and competitive bidding, thereby preventing any “outbreak within an outbreak.”
“An open, fair, competitive public procurement of NIP vaccines provide the Filipino people the broadest possible options for affordable, quality, and registered vaccines, allowing for potential significant savings to the government while at the same promoting strong public governance,” it said.
