Senators want executive-legislative consensus on Bayanihan Law 2

The executive branch and Congress must first reach a consensus on how the COVID-19 economic recovery program should look like before a special session is called by President Rodrigo Duterte for the passage of a second Bayanihan law.

This was the sentiment of some senators on Friday after Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said that Duterte may call for a special session.

Senator Sonny Angara, who principally sponsored the proposed Bayanihan to Recover as One Act, said the bill which the upper chamber crafted actually trimmed the budgetary requirement to P140 billion "as requested by the Department of Finance, with the understanding that another form of stimulus might be passed later on should finances improve."

The said bill, however, did not make it to the third reading in the Senate because the Palace decided not to certify it as urgent before the Congress adjourned sine die.

"The House passed its version of Bayanihan 2 at the committee level. Without any certification of urgency there can be no legislative action until after the President's SONA (State of the Nation Address)," Angara said.

The version in the lower house proposes P162 billion worth of economic interventions. Aside from the said counterpart bill, the House also approved the proposed P1.3 trillion Accelerated Recovery and Investments Stimulus for the Economy (ARISE) Act.

Senator Panfilo Lacson said it would be best for the executive department and Congress to first agree on a mutually acceptable legislative measure to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"That way, we won't be wasting our time," Lacson said.

A critic of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, Lacson said that the Department of Health must be headed competently so as not to throw away the government's limited resources.

"It's bad enough that we will be forced to scrounge and even borrow just to augment our already limited funds. It's infuriating if we lose it all—and more—to incompetence," Lacson said.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian also pointed out that Congress was able to approve the first Bayanihan law in a marathon special session in March because a prior meeting had been held by legislative and executive officials.

"Ang pinakamahalaga dito is there will be some agreement, principle-wise, so that hindi mag-deviate nang malayo ang Bayanihan 2," Gatchalian said.

"It's important first to agree in principle kung ano ba ang mga items that we need to fund and items to maintain," he added.

Gatchalian said he believed the P140-billion economic stimulus was quite small.

He is hoping that at least P300 billion will be allocated for Bayanihan 2 to support health initiatives against COVID-19, preserve jobs, and make sure that support would be extended to the education sector.

Senator Bong Go, chair of the Senate health committee, said the economic managers in the executive branch were still refining proposals to sustainably jump start the economy.

"Handa naman po ang mga mambabatas na magkaroon ng special session... Currently, key provisions are still being threshed out by our economic managers to ensure that there is sufficient funding to implement the measure once it is passed into law," Go said.

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri also welcomed the possible session for Bayanihan 2.

Through the now-expired Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, the government was able to release at least P350 billion to various agencies for COVID-19 response initiatives. -NB, GMA News