House Ways and Means, 2 other panels OK Bayanihan 3

The House committees on ways and means, economic affairs and social services have approved the proposed third Bayanihan law, which outlines P405.6 billion worth of interventions to help the country recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Marikina City Representative Stella Quimbo, an economist, said the House committees on economic affairs and social services had approved the measure last Friday, April 30. She said all Filipinos would be covered under this bill.

"Approved na sa Committee on Economic Affairs and Committee on Social Services last Friday. Total is P405.6 billion including two rounds of ayuda of 1,000 per Filipino," Quimbo said in a message.

Quimbo said the Committee on Appropriations would still tackle the proposed measure.

In a zoom interview with reporters, Quimbo further explained the two rounds of assistance which will be given to all Filipinos, regardless of their status in life.

"There are different kinds of ayuda, the most basic kind is the 'sana all' ayuda, which is P1,000 per head. We'll be doing this in two tranches so tranche one is a total of P108 billion and then after three months, the second tranche, another P108 billion..." she said.

Under the bill, Filipinos are allowed to waive the assistance, according to Quimbo.

"Ibig sabihin kung taga Forbes Park ka naman diba, alam mo naman, nako baka puwede ko naman i-waive 'yan, puwede naman," she said.

(If you're residing in Forbes Park and you chose to waive the cash assistance, you are allowed to do it.)

Quimbo also said there would be separate forms of assistance for families affected by COVID-19, the agriculture and fishery sector, wage subsidies for MSMEs, teachers, and for overseas Filipino workers.

Asked if there is an allotment for vaccines, Quimbo said the national government had told them that there is enough funds for vaccine procurement.

"Tinanong namin 'yan paulit-ulit sa DOH and IATF kung kailangan pa ng extra funds. They said, 'no, fully covered na 'yun,' So hindi na namin nilagyan ng dagdag na budget for vaccines," she said.

(We repeatedly asked the DOH and IATF if they need additional funds but they said vaccine procurement is already fully covered so we didn't add extra budget for vaccines.)

In a separate committee hearing of the ways and means, chaired by Albay Representative Joey Salceda, the following revenue provisions of the bill were approved without amendments:

• Sec. 34 BSP Provisional Advances - the BSP is hereby authorized to make additional direct provisional advances with or without interest to the national government to finance expenditures authorized by law that will address and respond to the COVID-19 situation. Provided that such additional direct provisional advances, shall not, in their aggregate, exceed the 10% of the average income of the national government for fiscal years 2018 to 2020; and
• Sec. 35 Remittance of GOCC dividends - Within 90 days from the effectivity of this Act, the Secretary of Finance shall draw up and submit to the Joint Executive-Legislative Bayanihan Council the list of government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) and their respective annual net earnings. The Joint Executive-Legislative Bayanihan Council shall recommend to the President a list of GOCCs that can be mandated to increase their dividend remittances to the government pursuant to Section 5 of Republic Act No. 7656.

Quimbo said the measure could be taken for plenary debates for approval on second reading when session resumes on May 17.

Speaker Lord Allan Velasco earlier said that while the two previous Bayanihan laws have increased the government's initial capacity to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, these were "not sufficient for the genuine economic recovery of the country." — RSJ, GMA News