Duterte urged to call for special session for passage of key economic measures

House ways and means committee chairperson Joey Salceda on Thursday asked President Rodrigo Duterte to call for a special session to allow the passage of critically-needed economic measures to boost the country's economy amid the COVID-19 crisis.

In a statement, Salceda said that a special session is needed in case the Senate and the House of Representatives fails to pass an economic recovery plan to supplement the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act and the proposed Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act.

For this reason, Salceda also called for a continuous session until Congress has approved the needed economic measures.

Congress is set to adjourn sine die next week, but Salceda said the economic recovery plan and the CREATE are needed to be approved by June "if we want a V-shaped recovery."

The CREATE Act is the modified version of proposed Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Reform Act (CITIRA) which seeks to immediately reduce the corporate income tax to 25% from 30% currently.

Salceda said the House intends to pass its stimulus recovery program before adjournment, and it has already done its duty of approving the CITIRA bill. The House will in fact adopt the Senate version of the measure if it gets approved on Monday or Tuesday next week, he added.

However, Salceda warned that “the economy cannot afford to pass any of these measures later than June.”

“We have to get both of these measures done now. I would, of course, prefer to have them approved for the President’s signature next week, but if we cannot, the best alternative is a special session," he said.

“Our hesitation to do special sessions in the past was due to constituency work. We wanted to take advantage of breaks, in the past, to serve our districts. With the rules that allow us to convene virtually, we can do both constituency work and legislation during the scheduled adjournment. So, Congress would not mind a special session,” he added.

The CITIRA bill was approved at the House of Representatives in September 2019 as House Bill 4157, while the Senate version was certified as urgent by President Duterte and is undergoing interpellations.

Salceda estimated that up to US$12 billion in foreign investments have already been lost with the two-year delay in the approval of the CITIRA bill.

A delay in the passage of an "adequate" recovery plan further costs the economy up to P100 billion in new economic activity every week, he added.

"At that rate, hindi na po kayang palagpasin pa hanggang July. June is the time to get them enacted into law, so that we can still reap the benefits in the second half. Kami po sa House, we are confident that if we have to, we can get both approved by June 3. If the Senate cannot, the President should extend the session and not terminate until they get both passed," Salceda said.

“We cannot delay covering the economy’s wounds. We must stop the bleeding now. At this point, any imperfect bill will be much better than no reform by June,” he added. —LDF, GMA News