House leaders, economic team to discuss financing for proposed Bayanihan 3

Albay Representative Joey Salceda on Monday said House leaders and the government's economic team would meet on Wednesday to discuss the financing of the proposed third Bayanihan law.

"On May 12, the House leadership and the President’s economic team will meet again to iron out some differences in both the spending side and the revenue side," Salceda said in a statement.

"We will have to meet at some figure, but the responsibility of Congress is to present the needs of the people first, and then adjust our response based on the availability of new or existing funding," he added.

Salceda said Congress had suggested funding the Bayanihan 3 using new revenue streams.

"We did take into account that whatever existing sources there are must have already been used for the regular budget. In fact, this is the premise of the proposed revenue sources in the package," he explained.

He called on his colleagues and the members of the economic team to not fixate on fiscal limitations when identifying funds for Bayanihan 3.

"How we pay for Bayanihan 3 can be annuitized to some number of years, through gaming taxes on POGOs and e-sabong, for example. We can get future revenue flows whose present value equivalent meets the need for Bayanihan 3," he said.

"This is the strategy of the USD 2.2 trillion infrastructure plan of the Biden administration. They plan to pay for it with new revenues and closing tax loopholes, over time. We can certainly learn from that approach," he added.

The House Committees on Ways and Means, Economic Affairs, and Social Services have approved the proposed measure, which outlines P405.6 billion worth of interventions to help the country recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under the measure, two rounds of at least P1,000 assistance will be given to all Filipinos, regardless of their status in life. Some lawmakers have urged to increase the assistance to P10,000 per family.

Salceda said the cash aid worth P5,000 to P10,000 would be targeted, "based on the poorest segments of the population."

"So, this is not universal. But there will be a universal basic income component to ensure nobody falls through the cracks. The P5-10k is a top-up. But we will have to see what the government can afford," he said. — DVM, GMA News