Bicam OKs P15K for health workers with COVID-19, cash aid for teaching, non-teaching personnel

The bicameral conference committee that was assigned to reconcile the disagreeing provisions of the House and Senate versions of Bayanihan to Recover as One bill or Bayanihan 2 convened virtually on Friday afternoon.

Senate Committee on Finance chairperson Sonny Angara and House Deputy Speaker LRay Villafuerte led the bicam.

The meeting was not accessible to the media, but Angara's office informed reporters that among the agreed provisions was the P15,000 cash assistance for health workers with mild and moderate COVID-19.

Earlier this month, President Rodrigo Duterte agreed with the recommendation that a P10,000 to P15,000 sickness benefit be provided to all healthcare workers infected with COVID-19.

Under the first Bayanihan law, only those with "severe" COVID-19 were entitled to a P100,000 sickness benefit.

The one-time cash assistance for teaching and non-teaching personnel who did not receive aid under the Bayanihan 1 was also approved by the bicam members.

LOOK: Members of the bicameral conference committee meet virtually to discuss the disagreeing provisions of the Bayanihan to Recover as One bill or Bayanihan 2. @gmanews

Photo credits: Office of Sen. Angara pic.twitter.com/gRIuUk9O7c

— Dona Magsino (@donamagsino) August 14, 2020

In May, Education Secretary Leonor Briones said that in private schools for basic education alone, more than 50,000 personnel are in need of cash aid.

The Senate's version of the Bayanihan 2 has a provision for "one-time cash assistance to affected teaching and non-teaching personnel, including part-time faculty, in private basic education schools and tertiary education institutions and part-time faculty in SUCs due to the deferred opening or reduced offering of classes during the community quarantine."

Also getting the nod of bicam members are the funding for COVID-19 testing; provision for cash assistance or "ayuda"; and loan condonation for agrarian reform beneficiaries.

The upper chamber's version has a P140 billion budget component while the lower chamber's features a P162 billion budget.

In a message to GMA News Online, Angara said the bicam is “approximately halfway through the measure” and the budget is yet to be finalized.

He added that preference to locally produced personal protective equipment (PPE) and grace period of 60 days for payment of loans were also approved.

The bicam conference is suspended until 10 a.m. on Monday.

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri previously said lawmakers hope the Bayanihan 2 will be ratified next Wednesday. —LDF, GMA News