Sotto: Pacquiao’s P335-B stimulus package, House’s P420-B Bayanihan 3 could be merged

The hundreds of billions of pesos of stimulus packages filed in both chambers of Congress could be consolidated into one stimulus measure as the two bills share similar provisions, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said Saturday.

In an interview on state-run PTV’s Laging Handa briefing, Sotto said Senator Manny Pacquiao’s proposed P335-billion Expanded Stimulus Package Act and the House of Representatives’ P420-billion Bayanihan to Arise As One Act are relatively similar.

“As a matter of fact, siguro mga four or five major provisions sa bills, ‘yung Bayanihan 3 at ang Expanded Stimulus Package ni Senator Pacquiao na finile on behalf of the senate ay halos nagkakapareho,” the Senate President said.

(As a matter fact, I think there are four or five provisions in Bayanihan 3 and Senator Pacquiao’s Expanded Stimulus package are almost the same.)

Sotto said both Pacquiao’s stimulus bill and House’ Bayanihan 3 share the same salient features such as “social amelioration to impacted households, capacity building for impacted sectors, and wage subsidies.”

Pacquiao filed Senate Bill 2121 which aims to provide additional funding for the government's COVID-19 response efforts apart from what is already included under the Bayanihan to Recover As One Act and the COVID-19 Vaccination Program Act of 2021.

Under Senate Bill 2123, the P335-billion expanded stimulus package is broken down as follows:

• P100 billion amelioration for low-income individuals, households and homeless;
• P100 billion for worker subsidies;
• P100 billion for capacity building for critically impacted sectors;
• P30 billion for assistance to displaced workers;
• P3 billion for Internet allowance for Department of Education K-12 teachers and students; and
• P2 billion for the Commission on Higher Education CHED for the Internet allowances for tertiary level teachers and students.

Meanwhile, the House Bill 8628 or Bayanihan 3’s proposed P420-billion appropriation is broken down as follows:

• P52 billion for subsidies to small business for wages and other worker-related expenses;
• P100 billion for the capacity-building of businesses in critically impacted sectors;
• P108 billion for additional social amelioration to impacted households through programs of the Department of Social Welfare and Development;
• P70 billion for the provision of assistance and capacity-building to farmers, livestock producers and fishermen;
• P30 billion for the implementation of unemployment assistance and cash-for-work programs under the Department of Labor and Employment;
• P30 billion for internet allowances to primary, secondary and tertiary students and teachers in public and private educational institutions;
• P5 billion to the Department of Public Works and Highways for the rehabilitation of typhoon-affected areas, including the repair, reconstruction and/or construction of flood control works, roads, bridges, public buildings and other damaged public works, to be distributed proportionately among provinces and cities affected;
• P25 billion to the Department of Health for the procurement of COVID-19 medication and vaccines, and to finance logistics, information awareness campaigns, and other related operational expenses.

“Hindi nakakapagtaka kung magkakaroon ng merger noong Bayanihan 3 at ng Expanded Senate Stimulus Package,” Sotto said.

(It’s not surprising if the Bayanihan 3 and the Expanded Senate Stimulus Package will be merged eventually.)

The Senate president also expressed optimism that the government can fund a new stimulus package.

“Marami tayong unused budget eh, naga-average ng P400 billion a year [We have a lot of unused budget, averaging about P400 billion a year],” Sotto said.

“Kung maghihigpit tayo ng sinturon kayang pondohan yan sa kasalukuyang appropriation o sa darating na appropriation sa 2022 [If we will tighten our belts, we can fund it in the current appropriation or in the upcoming appropriation for 2022],” he added. -MDM, GMA News