Robredo urges passage of Bayanihan 3, calls for unity amid COVID-19 crisis

Vice President Leni Robredo on Tuesday called for the passage of the Bayanihan 3 stimulus package to help the country recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Robredo identified the measure as one of her policy recommendations, details of which will be posted on her office’s Facebook page in the coming days.

In a video message, Robredo said the proposed Bayanihan 3, which is still pending in Congress, should be used to ensure no one starves or loses their home.

She also pushed for a faster and an integrated system for testing, tracing and treatment, possible realignment of sin tax proceeds to COVID-19 response, proper implementation of the universal healthcare program, direct delivery of COVID-19 vaccines to the people, credit facilities for small businesses, assistance to those who lost their jobs, and extensive retraining opportunities to help them keep up with the evolving landscape of industries.

The Vice President also called for more funds towards raising the quality of education and paying off debts of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) to hospitals to ensure their continued operations.

“Our point: If it hasn’t been done yet, begin; if it’s already being done, intensify. There is no debate as regards the reality: Much is left to do to address, and lift ourselves up from, this pandemic,” she said in Filipino.

Robredo came up with the recommendations a day after President Rodrigo Duterte delivered his sixth and final State of the Nation Address (SONA), which according to her did not give emphasis on some matters.

“The President's SONA is over. We heard lists of numbers and projects. And yet there were things we had hoped would be given emphasis but were not. I face you today in the hopes of filling a gap; of imparting a truth that must be affirmed by any leadership,” she said.

Priority

Robredo reiterated that there should be no other priority but the pandemic and its effects.

She enumerated her office’s anti-coronavirus initiatives such as the community learning hubs, an online donation drive to address the most urgent needs of frontliners, and the telemedicine Bayanihan E-Konsulta program.

“We need all hands on deck and laser-like focus. This should be mirrored in our budgets, in the agenda of every meeting within government, in every memo cascaded down the bureaucracy,” she said.

“If we need to put up billboards and tarps, let it be about staying safe from illness. If [you] need the services of a battalion of graphic artists, let it be for a vaccination drive. When passing new laws, let it be for funds and a stronger system to combat the pandemic.”

Unity

According to the opposition leader, the government’s role is to foster unity in times of crisis.

She noticed, however, that the “first impulse of some is to look for a culprit, to look for a suspect to arrest, or to single out the next critic whom trolls can attack.”

Duterte earlier threatened to detain people caught without face masks in public, and arrest barangay captains who allow mass gatherings in their localities. He also told vaccine skeptics that they could “die five times” if they wanted.

“When our fellow Filipinos leave their homes even while under ECQ (enhanced community quarantine) shouldn’t we look deeper into their reasons for doing so? Perhaps there is more to it than simple hardheadedness. Perhaps they face the very real threat of starving if they don’t go out to work; perhaps it’s even more cramped and unsafe in their homes,” Robredo said.

“When people are reluctant to get vaccinated, isn’t it better to give incentives, rather than threaten [them] with punishment? When suggestions are being made, shouldn’t we listen first, rather than outrightly dismissing it as fault-finding and antagonism?”

Robredo said the political divisiveness must end, adding the “only way to overcome this crisis—the surest path to reaching our loftiest dreams—is to act as one.”

“This has to stop. We are in the midst of a crisis. No one else but us gets infected, no one else but us suffers, no one else but us gets stalled on the road to progress. The truth is that the pandemic doesn’t ask which group we belong to, or which political party appears on our membership cards,” she said.

“Let us not be fooled by illusions of disunity, fabricated by the few who seek to slow our journey towards the fulfillment of our dreams.” — RSJ, GMA News