House offers to stagger implementation of P680B spending plan in proposed P1.3T stimulus bill

Members of the House of Representatives pushing for the P1.3 trillion Accelerate Recovery and Investments Stimulus for the Economy (ARISE) bill have come up with a compromise offer to implement the proposed measure which was being opposed by economic managers.

In a virtual meeting on Thursday, House Economic Affairs Committee chair AAMBIS-OWA Party-list Representative Sharon Garin said lawmakers behind House Bill No. 6815 or ARISE came up with an “acceptable” compromise.

“The compromise we have offered is... magiging staggered siya,” Garin said.

Garin, Albay Representative Joey Salceda, and Marikina City Representative Stella Luz Quimbo authored and sponsored the ARISE bill, which proposes a package of reforms, amounting to P1.3 trillion in total, to help address the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis in the country.

The bill was approved on third and final reading in the lower chamber early this month.

The measure is comprised of P688 billion in new spending on the first year to help address the economic impact of COVID-19 and another of P650 billion in three years for the enhanced “Build, Build, Build” program aimed at creating 1.5 million jobs.

National Economic and Development Authority Acting Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua said the stimulus plan is not fundable due to limited funding sources.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said the cost of stimulus package should only be at P140 billion as he cautioned against increasing the government’s budget gap further.

Garin said proponents of ARISE are proposing to stagger in three stages the P680-billion spending plan in the stimulus package bill.

“So P140 [billion], then P280 [billion] in two months after SONA (State of the Nation Address, and then another P280 [billion] in the 2021 budget,” she said.

“So, hindi na siya biglaan... I think, it’s doable,” she added.

The economic stimulus package bill is expected to protect and assist up to 15.7 million workers, create 3 million short-term jobs and 1.5 million infrastructure over the period of three years, and help up to 5.57 million micro, small, and medium enterprises.

The measure is divided into five types of interventions: general, transitional, financial, sectoral, and structural.—AOL, GMA News