spot_img
28.6 C
Philippines
Friday, March 29, 2024

House, Senate clash over P10B DOT fund

- Advertisement -

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Friday slammed some House members for pushing for the allocation  of P10-billion for the tourism sector under the proposed Bayanihan to Recover as One Act supposedly for the construction of toilets, roads and other infrastructures.

“I am just repeating that the House of Representatives wanted to put this (10 billion) for the construction of toilets and farm-to-market roads and other infrastructure under the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA),” said Drilon in a radio interview.

Drilon said he and his colleagues in the Senate are instead rallying behind the position of the Department of Tourism that the money should be used as soft loans for small companies severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

At the end of their lenghty discussions, the senators and congressmen agreed that the funds should be distributed as follows: P1 billion for DPWH tourism infrastructure; P3 billion for displaced workers in the tourism industry and P6 billion for loanable fund through the Small Business Corp. of the DTI.

The P6 billion for loanable funds were to be given exclusively for the businesses in the tourism industry, although in the law, its generally worded – it included hospitals, cooperatives, MSMEs – but on record, the P6 billion is only for the tourism industry.

- Advertisement -

“We didn’t agree to use the P10 billion for the building of toilets in tourist areas because we don’t believe it will help the tourism enterprises and the workers in the tourism industry who lost their jobs,” said Drilon.

Drilon said that the P10-billion funding for the tourism industry was among the contentious provisions during the bicameral panel discussions meant to reconcile the Senate and the House versions of the Bayanihan 2 bill.

The P10-billion tourism aid package also caused tension in the Senate’s plenary session before the ratification of the measure.

Senator Pia Cayetano took the cudgels for her former colleagues in the House members after she called out supposed insinuations of her colleagues in the Senate that some congressmen were advancing their personal gain in pushing for the P10 billion allocation for tourism infrastructure.

“I would like to point out that the insinuation that no one in the Senate pushed for anything for personal gain makes it appear that our counterparts in the House did,” Cayetano said.

“You all know that the Speaker is my brother and so I want to put on record that I was a member of the House of Representatives, I have met very honorable people from the House of Representatives who also fight just like you and me for their constituents,” added Cayetano, who was Cayetano was apparently piqued by the statements made by Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri and Senate President Vicente Sotto III.

The senator’s youngest brother is House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano.

Before Cayetano’s manifestation, Zubiri thanked his fellow bicam members in the Senate, who he said “fought tooth and nail” to keep the P10-billion aid for the tourism industry under the Bayanihan 2.

“We really protected the tourism industry here, we fought tooth and nail. Actually we had to reserve it as the last topic because it was quite contentious. It took about two days of discussions and thank God with some intervention last night we were able to come up with the consensus,” said Zubiri.

“The Senate team, I want to put on record, it was pure advocacy. None of us fought for just for a particular area or a particular personal interest, no, everyone worked together for the advocacies we were fighting for,” he added.

After some senators manifested their congratulations for the bicam approval of the Bayanihan 2, Sotto went back to Zubiri to clarify his earlier remarks.

“When the majority leader says the [bicam members] were selfless in their proposals and advocacies and no agenda, whatsoever, you were merely talking about the Senate panel?” Sotto asked. .

Zubiri, who attended the plenary session through video conference, can be heard letting out a laugh over Sotto’s questions.

“No comment, Mr. President. For us in the Senate, it was pure advocacy and it will be shown in the records and we fought it out well,” said Zubiri.

Senator Sonny Angara, chairperson of the Senate Finance Committee and led  his colleagues in the bicameral panel, also clarified that the House members made very many good interventions in the Bayanihan 2 bill. He scknowledged the House leader who intervened and loosened the “deadlock” over the P10-billion tourism aid.

“We may not have broken the deadlock for tourism. They (House) graciously agreed despite their reservations,” added Angara.

Meanwhile, Drilon said taxes collected from Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators may be source of funds to to beef up the country’s response to COVID-19 pandemic and recovery programs under the proposed Bayanihan 2.

He added that the measure amended the computation of the franchise tax from POGOs.

This means, Drilon said, that the franchise tax collected from POGOs will cover five percent of all bets made and not just the amount of winnings.

“Before in the P100 bet, tax will be deducted on winning. Now, the entire bet will be subject to five percent ang franchise tax,” he added.

Under the bill, Drilon said the official exchange rate will be used in the conversion for the payment of the taxes.

“We know that the exchange rate is being cheated. so we will use the official exchange rate. If they cheated, the government can stop the operation and charge them,” he said.

The Bayanihan 2 bill has a total allocation of P165.5 billion but only P140 billion will be ready for use. The funds will be sourced from savings and unused appropriations of the government.

Angara said they still have to look for sources of the P25.5 billion standby funds.

- Advertisement -

LATEST NEWS

Popular Articles