Senate ratifies Bayanihan 2; P140B set for targeted aid

The Senate on Thursday ratified the emergency P140-billion national recovery bill that would provide targeted assistance to the most affected workers and sectors and improve the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The proposed Bayanihan to Recover As One Act, or Bayanihan 2, would finance cash-for-work programs for displaced workers; aid the transportation, agriculture, and education sectors; fund emergency hiring of more health workers; and provide emergency subsidies to low-income households in areas under hard lockdown and to families of recently returned overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), according to Sen. Sonny Angara, finance committee chair.

Malacañang thanked Congress for approving the measure.

“We are glad at the speedy approval of Bayanihan 2,” said presidential spokesperson Harry Roque. “I think they were faithful to the Palace’s request.”

“It is not far (from what was proposed) and we are thankful for the cooperation extended by both houses of Congress,” Roque said.

Angara said the bill was intended to help the country not only survive but also recover from the recession caused by the pandemic in the remaining months of the year.

“It’s a genuine effort on the part of Congress to really help our fellow Filipinos. We tried to live up to the name of Bayanihan to help each other. We wish we could do more, but what can you do within the limits of the money available to our government?” he told reporters.

Aside from the P140 billion, the bill provides a standby appropriation of P25.5 billion.

That fund includes P10 billion to purchase vaccines for SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, as well as more tests for the virus.

The rest of the money would form part of a P50-billion allotment for government lending or financial institutions.

Bayanihan 2 also suspends for three years most permits required for telecommunications companies to build cell sites. It also provides a 60-day grace period for the payment of all loans, including credit card bills.

Contentious

One of the most contentious provisions that took four days of debate to settle was the P10-billion aid package for the tourism industry, among the sectors hardest-hit by the pandemic.

The Senate had allocated that amount to programs of the Department of Tourism (DOT) to directly assist crippled tourism-related businesses, while the House version wanted it all placed in the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (Tieza).

On their last day of discussions on the Bayanihan 2 bill, senators and congressmen in the bicameral conference committee on Thursday decided to allocate P6 billion to the Department of Trade and Industry to provide assistance to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in tourism.

They then set aside P3 billion for the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to help displaced tourism workers and P1 billion for the Department of Public Works and Highways for tourism infrastructure.

Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said the “compromise” was accepted by the DOT.

The tourism industry contributed P2.48 trillion, or 12.7 percent, to the Philippine economy in 2019. It employed 5.71 million last year, 6.5 percent more than in 2018, accounting for 13.5 percent of total employment in the country in 2019.

Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr. said the House members in the bicameral committee agreed to trim the P10 billion they earlier proposed for tourism infrastructure.

According to Villafuerte, the final version of Bayanihan 2 affirmed the House version’s “holistic” approach to help the recovery of the tourism industry.

He said the bicameral committee adopted the House proposal of allotting P50 billion for low-interest loans from government banks, as well as working capital for OFWs, MSMEs, tourism, and hospitals.

Cash for work

The committee also approved P13 billion for cash-for-work programs under the DOLE’s Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (Tupad) program, he said, adding that the House was expected to ratify the bill next week.

Under Bayanihan 2, health workers may expect a P10,000 monthly special risk allowance, while those who contract mild or moderate COVID-19 would be entitled to P15,000 cash assistance.

The bill retains the provision in the earlier Bayanihan bill providing P100,000 assistance for health workers who are stricken with severe COVID-19, and P1 million to the families of health workers who die from the disease.

The P140 billion would also fund contact tracing, the procurement of more personal protective equipment, the construction of isolation and quarantine facilities, field hospitals, and dormitories for front-line workers, and loan facilities of government financial institutions such as Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines.

The recovery measure would be funded by tax collections, revenues from government agencies or government-owned and -controlled corporations, and savings from foreign loans.

Pogos as fund source

Part of the source of funds is the higher taxes that Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) have to pay as mandated in the bill.

Drilon, who introduced the provision, said the measure amended the computation of the taxes to be collected from Pogos.

The 5 percent franchise tax was computed based on gross bet minus payments for winnings.

Angara also said Bayanihan 2 allowed the government to procure a COVID-19 vaccine, when it comes out, even if it had only passed Phase 3 trial, as long as it was certified by the World Health Organization.

But he said that for the distribution of any vaccine, the Phase 4 trial was still required.

Health and medical experts would be making the decision in the end, and the rules were only relaxed for procurement, he added.

The Bayanihan 2 bill will end on Dec. 19, 2020, Congress’ last session day for the year, but there are provisions that would be in effect past this date.

Sen. Grace Poe said Bayanihan 2 would provide loans and fuel vouchers for public utility vehicle drivers and facilitate the contracting of public utility vehicles for government use. It also assures drivers there will be no jeepney phaseout during the pandemic, she added. —WITH REPORTS FROM MELVIN GASCON AND JULIE M. AURELIO