Zubiri eyes increasing Bayanihan 2 fund to P500B in bicam

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri on Wednesday said he thinks a higher budget for the proposed Bayanihan to Recover As One Act or Bayanihan 2 would help more Filipinos amid the economic crisis brought about by COVID-19.

"If you ask me, mababa 'yung P140 billion but we have to do it para matapos na ito para we can go on a bicam... I think P500 billion would be a good amount," Zubiri said in an interview on ANC.

The second Bayanihan bill, featuring a P140-billion economic stimulus package, passed the third and final reading in the Senate on Tuesday.

Zubiri said more micro, small, and medium enterprises, and displaced workers from various industries would be reached if this measure is provided with a bigger budget.

"Kailangan natin siguro ituloy ang ayuda, 'yung Social Amelioration Program, and kulang na kulang 'yung budget, kulang na kulang 'yung funding," he said.

"Let's meet [in bicam], let's haggle with the DOF to increase the amount," Zubiri added.

The Majority Leader acknowledged that the House of Representatives passed another economic stimulus bill or the proposed "Accelerated Recovery and Investments Stimulus for the Economy (ARISE) Act" with the P1.3 trillion funding requirement.

He said the huge disparity between it and the P140-billion bill in the Senate shall be reconciled in the bicameral conference committee.

"We have to reconcile the P1.3 trillion version of the House of Representatives to our P140 billion. Eventually, we're gonna get there somewhere in the middle but we have to make sure that the DOF will recommend the approval of this measure with money that they can spend," Zubiri said.

The National Economic and Development Authority has earlier said the measure from the lower house is not fundable.

Another bill, also titled Bayanihan to Recover as One Act, has been passed on first reading in the House. It comes with a proposed P162 billion-worth of economic response interventions.

Meanwhile, Senator Sonny Angara who chairs the Senate Committee on Finance said the Department of Finance assured that the P140 billion measure approved by the upper chamber can be funded.

"'Yun ang assurance po ng Department of Finance... Sabi nila mapopondohan nila ang mga programa sa Bayanihan to Recover or for short Bayanihan 2 Act," Angara, principal sponsor of the bill, said in a separate interview on Dobol B sa News TV.

He added that social amelioration will still continue under Bayanihan 2 but only in areas under enhanced community quarantine where limited establishments are allowed to operate.

"Mayroon po pero only for those under quarantine po. 'Yung SAP kasi 'yun ang konsepto ng SAP eh—kapag hindi ka makapagtrabaho dahil naka-quarantine ka, bibigyan ka ng tulong-pinansyal ng gobyerno. Ngayon, 'pag nakaalis na tayo ng ECQ, wala na pong SAP 'yun," Angara said.

Aside from this economic stimulus package, Angara said an increase on the budget for the health sector can be expected in the 2021 General Appropriations Act. —KG, GMA News