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House subpanel approves P1.5-T CURES bill to cope with pandemic impact


The Social Amelioration Cluster of the House Defeat COVID-19 Committee (DCC) has approved the measure setting aside a three-year, P1.5-trillion stimulus package to help kick-start the country's economy and create jobs in the wake of the COVID-19 health crisis.

The House subpanel, during its virtual meeting on Tuesday, approved House Bill 6709, or the proposed "COVID-19 Unemployment Reduction Economic Stimulus (CURES) Act of 2020," authored by Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and eight other lawmakers.

The measure primarily seeks to raise government spending on the areas of health, education, agriculture, local roads infrastructure and livelihood (HEAL) "towards maximizing the direct and indirect creation and preservation of jobs, particularly in the rural countryside."

Under the bill, a special outlay to be called the CURES Fund equivalent to P1.5 trillion will be released over a period of three years to fund the infrastructure projects under the HEAL priority areas.

An initial P500 billion will be released in the first year, followed by another P500 billion in the second year and another P500 in the third year.

"With infrastructure investments having the highest multiplier effect on the economy, the DCC social amelioration subpanel has sought the swift congressional passage of HB 6709 to raise state spending on HEAL infrastructure to create rural jobs and blunt the impact of what the International Monetary Fund expects to be the worst recession since the Great Depression in the 1930s,” Deputy Speaker Luis Raymund Villafuerte, one of the authors of the measure, said.

During the virtual meeting, Villafuerte underscored the importance of implementing local HEAL projects in order to create jobs and other livelihood opportunities for Filipinos in the rural areas, especially those whose livelihood were affected by the COVID-19 crisis.

"Ang gusto namin, nationwide mag-implement ng mga local project para maka-generate ng local employment. Kasi kung maggagawa ka ng tulay sa Calabarzon o Manila ng dalawang bilyong [piso], ang mga taga-probinsya pupunta sa Maynila, e that is contrary to the Balik Probinsya [Program]," he said.

"Paano tayo makaka-create ng trabaho sa barangay kung gagawin lang sa sentro?" he added.

Villafuerte also said that the CURES fund should be automatically appropriated and should be "over and above" the budget so that it can be immediately used to implement the projects envisioned under the proposed law.

He pointed out that the projects under the measure should be "shovel-ready," meaning they can be implemented in 60 to 90 days.

The CURES Fund will be available for use for various projects ranging from barangay health centers and municipal and city hospitals to digital equipment for testing, “telehealth” services and e-prescriptions to post-harvest facilities, bagsakan centers and food terminals.

The said fund may also be used to implement other infrastructure projects such as walking or bicycle lanes, bridges across creeks and irrigation canals, evacuation centers and disaster emergency facilities, and roads going to tourist spots, beaches, mountain parks, new business districts or economic zones, and hubs for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Apart from Cayetano and Villafuerte, other authors of the measure include Deputy Speakers Paolo Duterte and Loren Legarda, Majority Leader Martin Romualdez, ACT CIS party-list Representative Eric Yap, Taguig Representative Lani Cayetano, Anakalusugan party-list Michael Defensor, and Bulacan Representative Jose Antonio Sy-Alvarado. —LDF, GMA News

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