House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco renewed Wednesday his call for another round of economic stimulus package to provide direct aid to Filipinos struggling during the pandemic.
Velasco made the appeal with more areas placed under localized lockdowns and some businesses again forced to shut down due to upsurge in COVID-19 cases.
“There are a lot of Filipinos who are suffering financially and are in dire need of help now,” Velasco said.
“A third economic stimulus package will provide much-needed lifeline to individuals, families, and businesses severely affected by the pandemic.”
Velasco was referring to his own version of the Bayanihan 3 bill that proposes a P420-billion fund to stimulate the nation’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.
The Speaker filed the measure in February after the passage of the bill extending the validity of Bayanihan 2, and upon seeing further need to allocate additional funds to help the nation cope with the pandemic.
To date, 224 members from the supermajority, minority, and independent blocs in the House of Representatives have signed either as principal authors or co-authors of the measure.
Lawmakers said reports that the Philippine economy contracted 9.5 percent in 2020—the worst performance in the country’s post-war history—underscore the importance and urgency of passing swiftly Bayanihan 3.
House Bill 8628 or the proposed “Bayanihan to Arise As One Act” seeks to allocate P108 billion for additional social amelioration to impacted households, P100 billion for capacity-building for impacted sectors, P52 billion for wage subsidies, P70 billion for wage subsidies, P70 billion for capacity-building for agricultural producers, P30 billion for internet allowances to students and teachers, P30 billion for assistance to displaced workers, P25 billion for COVID-19 treatment and vaccines, and P5 billion for the rehabilitation of areas impacted by recent floods and typhoons.
Under the measure, each household member will receive P1,000 regardless of their economic status. On top of this, a P1,000 allowance will be provided to each student and teacher, and P8,000 for every displaced worker.
The country’s economic managers had reportedly said they were not sure if the third stimulus package would still be necessary if quarantine restrictions were eased further and the economy moves faster.
However, Velasco said that during a recent virtual meeting, he got an assurance from Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III that efforts were being made to identify funding sources for the Bayanihan 3.
“It’s a matter of finding revenues to be able to fund those programs. Secretary Dominguez did not actually shoot down Bayanihan 3,” Velasco said.
He added: “Definitely, he (Dominguez) really wants to help the Filipino people. Ang sinabi lang niya e give him time to look for the funding.”
Velasco said a third stimulus package is necessary in light of a Philippine Statistics Authority report that around 4 million adult Filipinos, representing 8.7 percent of the labor force, lost their jobs in the first month of the year even as the economy further reopens.
Meanwhile, former Speaker and Taguig Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano’s call for Congress to pass the 10K Ayuda Bill received a boost from Senator Christopher Lawrence Go as well as two local government units as they called on government to provide additional assistance to the Filipino people severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Filed by Cayetano, Taguig Rep. Lani Cayetano, and their allies in the House of Representatives on February 1, 2021, the 10K Ayuda Bill proposes to give each Filipino family P10,000 or P1,500 per family member, whichever is higher, that they can use for their daily needs or to start their own businesses as the country waits for the full roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccination program.
The bill, however, has not been discussed by Congress and has been pending at the Committee on Social Services.
In a statement Wednesday, Go urged President Rodrigo Duterte and concerned national government agencies to provide additional assistance to poor Filipinos through an expanded Social Amelioration Program.
He said government agencies need to help all poor Filipinos overcome the difficulties caused by the rising number of COVID-19 cases and ensure that all sectors needing government assistance are prioritized.
Go also said the government must work together to fill in the gaps as the needs of Filipino families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic continue to grow and evolve.
Cayetano welcomed Go’s statement, saying it was “very significant” since the senator is the President’s “eyes and ears.”
“I hope Congress would be sense this and we convert into a Committee on the Whole or in any way that we can, even if we have to ask for a special session, in order to pass this. We did it in Bayanihan 1 and Bayanihan 2, there’s no reason we can’t do it again,” Cayetano told reporters on Wednesday during the inauguration the new isolation facility of Pateros.
For its part, the Tarlac City Sangguniang Panlungsod issued a resolution saying the 10K Ayuda Bill would “ensure that every Filipino is given additional assistance in recognition of the fact that we have all been affected by the pandemic, economic setbacks, and all the hardships brought about in the year 2020.”
The resolution, signed by Vice Mayor Genaro Mendoza and all 12 Sangguniang Panglungsod members, noted that the bill prioritized the country’s vulnerable sectors: the poorest of the poor; senior citizens; persons with disabilities; solo parents; displaced, retrenched, or separated workers, or otherwise severely affected or have lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Also prioritized are medical front-liners (including barangay health workers); families of overseas Filipino workers; those who were not able to receive assistance through any of the social amelioration programs of the national government; and Filipino citizens holding a Philippine National ID.
Meanwhile, the Sangguniang Bayan of Alburquerque in Bohol said the eventual passage of the 10K Ayuda Bill “would greatly benefit our countrymen who have been extremely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The resolution quoted Cayetano as saying, “although Filipinos are known for their grit and resilience, assistance to our countrymen is still needed to help them survive and get back on their feet amid the pandemic while a viable vaccine program for all Filipinos is being rolled out by the government.”
It also noted that the bill will ensure delivery of the assistance to all families since it mandates the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) “to establish, maintain, and operate a telephone hotline, website, and mobile application in order to effectively facilitate the rollout of the said program.”
The resolution was signed by Vice Mayor Alexis Fernan Simeon and all 10 Sangguniang Bayan members.
The two resolutions, which are to be sent to the House of Representatives and the Senate, come as the government reimposes tougher quarantine restrictions in Metro Manila and nearby provinces due to the rapidly rising number of new COVID-19 cases.
They were also issued as a broad spectrum of citizens called on the government to provide more assistance to Filipinos to help them cope with the more stringent regulations.
Gabriela Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas had earlier pushed for the P10,000 cash assistance, while her group has launched an online petition urging government to provide aid to those affected by the pandemic as well as the natural calamities that hit the country in recent months.