Palace not backing proposed P420-B Bayanihan 3 yet, Roque says

President Rodrigo Duterte won’t endorse the passage of the P420-billion stimulus package proposed by Speaker Lord Allan Velasco dubbed as Bayanihan 3 just yet, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said Monday.

Roque said that for now, the P4.5-trillion 2021 national budget and the P165-billion Bayanihan to Recover as One (Bayanihan 2) law are enough to tide the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Well, we appreciate the policy initiatives of Speaker Velasco. Pero ang consistent position po natin diyan ay mayroon po tayong sapat na fiscal stimulus ngayon sa ating annual budget at ipinapatupad pa po natin iyong Bayanihan 2,” Roque said.

“Pero siyempre po, we appreciate the filing of Bayanihan 3 dahil kung kulang po talaga, then we will of course resort to Bayanihan 3. Sa ngayon po, tingnan po muna natin kung anong mangyayari sa pagpapatupad ng 2021 budget at iyong pagpapatupad pa rin ng Bayanihan 2 na extended po hanggang taon na ito,” Roque added.

Velasco, who authored the proposed Bayanihan 3 measure alongside economist and Marikina Representative Stella Quimbo, said Bayanihan 3 will help pump economic growth which already nosedived by 9.5% by end of 2020—the largest drop since 1946.

Prior to the passage of the Bayanihan 2 law and the 2021 national budget, President Rodrigo Duterte also signed Bayanihan to Heal as One law or Bayanihan 1 which allowed the Chief Executive to realign budget provisions under the 2020 budget for the country’s COVID-19 response.

The validity of Bayanihan 2 was supposed to expire last December 2020.

The utilization rate of the funding provided under Bayanihan 2, however, has not been up to par, prompting Congress to extend its validity until June 30, 2021.

The Philippines has recorded 538,995 COVID-19 cases as of February 8. Of this number, 499,772 recovered while 11,231 died. 

These figures make the number of active COVID-19 cases at 27,992.  — RSJ, GMA News