Angara: P140-B Bayanihan 2 law won't be the only stimulus plan vs. COVID-19

The proposed P140-billion Bayanihan 2 law will serve as a mini stimulus package but will not be the lone stimulus package amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Senate finance committee chairperson Sonny Angara said Thursday.

Angara made the pronouncement a day after House Assistant Minority Leader Stella Quimbo warned that a piecemeal set of stimulus packages will not be an effective response against COVID-19 because it would mean a more difficult monitoring if the government assistance will reach the target beneficiaries.

“In our discussion with the DOF (Department of Finance) and economic managers, there was an agreement that we can pass the Bayanihan 2 as a mini stimulus package,” Angara said in an ANC interview.

“If the situation calls for it or improves…because you have to remember, we were discussing this before the BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue’s) deadline for paying taxes. Now we would have a better idea how much we can spend moving forward. The premise is, this will be the first piece of stimulus package, but not the only stimulus. That is where we are coming from,” Angara added.

Angara said that while a bigger amount of stimulus package is ideal, Congress has to pass a law that can be funded.

“What the economic managers asked us to do is to make it realistic. Otherwise, we will be raising expectations of our people, and there will be no money to finance it,” he  said.

“An unfunded mandate would be a shame. This is a matter of what is doable. We also need to be realistic in our expectation, and I doubt it (Bayanihan 2) will go over P200 billion,” he added.

The House version of the Bayanihan 2 is worth P160 billion which is P20 billion more than that of the Senate version.

Among the items provided for under the Senate version of the Bayanihan 2 is P50 billion for assistance to micro, small and medium enterprises, P32 billion for cash-for-work program and unemployment assistance, P17 billion each for transportation and agriculture sector, P10 billion for tourism, P4 billion for smart campuses and Technical Educations and Skills Development Authority training, among others. — Llanesca T. Panti/RSJ, GMA News