Duterte won’t certify ‘Bayanihan 2’ as urgent ‘for now’

FILE – President Rodrigo Roa Duterte updates the nation on the government’s efforts in addressing the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the Malago Clubhouse in Malacañang on May 28, 2020. ACE MORANDANTE/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte will not certify as urgent the proposed Bayanihan to Recover as One Act “for now,” his spokesman Harry Roque said Thursday.

“We wish to announce that Malacanang will NOT certify as urgent the extension of the  Bayanihan We Heal as One Act, for now,” Roque said without elaborating.

The Palace official issued the statement after the Senate adjourned sine die its first regular session in the 18th Congress on Thursday afternoon without passing the Senate Bill No. 1564 dubbed the “Bayanihan 2.”

Earlier, senators were optimistic that Duterte would certify the proposed bill as urgent so they can do away with the three-day reading rule and pass it immediately on final reading. Its counterpart measure at the House of Representatives is still pending at the committee level.

Before the session adjourned the session at around 5:30 p.m., the senators held a caucus as they awaited for the urgent certification from Malacañang, which would allow the chamber to approve the measure on third reading even only a day after it was passed on second reading.

But the certification never came and the Senate will go on break without approving the measure that would provide for the Philippines’ COVID-19 response and recovery plan and a P140- billion standby fund.