Duterte to sign proposed Bayanihan 2 ASAP —Palace

President Rodrigo Duterte will likely sign in the coming days the proposed Bayanihan to Recover as One Act that provides a COVID-19 relief package worth P165 billion, Malacañang said Monday.

Duterte’s spokesperson Harry Roque said the Palace is consulting agencies on the contents of the proposed Bayanihan 2, which the President endorsed to Congress in July.

“[The President will sign the bill into law] as soon as possible. I don’t think the first two weeks of September will pass without the bill being signed,” Roque said in a televised briefing.

“I think they are aiming [that] the bill should be signed this week [or] next week at the latest.”

Ratified by the Senate and House of Representatives last month, the bill provides that P50 billion will go to government financial institutions — Land Bank of the Philippines, Development Bank of the Philippines, Philippine Guarantee Corp., and Small Business Corp. — to provide soft loans to sectors affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cash subsidies ranging from P5,000 to P8,000 will also be given to low-income households in areas under granular lockdown and those with recently returned overseas Filipino workers, as well as to displaced workers.

Congress has allotted P13.5 billion for health-related responses, including the payment of P10,000 special risk allowance to both public and private medical frontliners, P3 billion for the procurement of face masks, face shields and personal protective equipment, and P4.5 billion for the construction of temporary medical isolation and quarantine facilities.

A total P4 billion has also been earmarked for the tourism industry, of which P1 billion is for Tourism Road Infrastructure Programs, and P3 billion is for cash-for-work programs and assistance to displaced workers. —KBK, GMA News