House OKs bill extending availability of Bayanihan 2 funds

The House of Representatives on Monday approved on second and third reading the measure seeking to extend the availability of funds under the Bayanihan to Recover As One Act until June 30, 2021 amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

With a vote of 179 in the affirmative, six in the negative, and zero abstentions, the chamber approved House Bill 8063, whose authors include Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, Majority Leader Martin Romualdez, and House Committee on Appropriations chair Eric Yap.

The approval of the measure came a few hours after President Rodrigo certified it as urgent, along with the bill extending the availability of funds under the 2020 General Appropriations Act until December 31, 2021.

The certification of urgency allowed the House to approve the two measures on second and third reading on the same day, skipping the required three-day interval between the two.

Enacted in September this year, the Bayanihan to Recover As One Act, also known as Bayanihan 2, allowed President Rodrigo Duterte to realign the budget of agencies to fund the country’s COVID-19 response.

The law is expected to lapse this Saturday, December 19, the next adjournment of the 18th Congress.

The proposal to extend Bayanihan 2 was initially contained in House Bill 8217, which the House Committee on Appropriations approved last Friday.

However, the measure was recommitted on Monday and the committee had to reconvene at 7 p.m. to adopt House Bill 8217 to House Bill 8063, which was the measure certified as urgent by the President.

Quezon Representative David Suarez, who presided over the panel hearing, said that nothing was drastically changed when House Bill 8217 was adopted to House Bill 8063.

"We just had to agree in the details as to that which was included in the letter sent to us from the executive. Because in the letter, they certified urgent House Bill 8063," he said.

"So therefore we just wanted to be in line with the request of the executive so that we can see congruent action from the House of Representatives," he added.

The panel then approved the amendments to House Bill 8063, allowing it to be sent to the plenary for deliberation and further approval.

The Bayanihan 2 includes a P10 billion budget for COVID-19 testing procurement of medication and vaccines, while P15.52 billion has been earmarked for additional capital infusion to government banks.

Likewise, Bayanihan 2 provides P50 billion to government financial institutions such as Land Bank of the Philippines, Development Bank of the Philippines, Philippine Guarantee Corp., and Small Business Corp. to provide soft loans to affected sectors. — DVM, GMA News