Photo from Makabayan Bloc Facebook.
MANILA, Philippines—Makabayan Bloc on Saturday expressed its opposition to the P165.5 billion pandemic response package included in the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act, or Bayanihan 2 Law, saying that it won’t stop nor reverse the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The opposition group from the House of Representatives added that they vehemently reject the Bayanihan 2 Law as the measure would just give President Rodrigo Duterte “more unconstitutional powers that he can use for the benefit of his favored foreign and local investors and to trample on the rights of marginalized sectors.”
“At this point, the main obstacle to economic recovery is the Duterte administration’s disastrous failure to effectively ‘flatten the curve’ of the COVID-19 pandemic despite imposing one of the longest and harshest lockdowns in the world on our people,” said the group in a statement.
Makabayan Bloc also pointed out that Bayanihan 2 Law did not put a measure in place for a free mass testing program especially for medical frontliners and the labor force who are required to report to work amid the pandemic.
The group added that “the law remains fatally tied to the neoliberal framework of relying on foreign investment and importation to grow the economy.”
The bloc said Congress gave priority to the Build, Build, Build program that is meant to entice foreign investors.
“The Bayanihan 2 also makes it clear that President Duterte is hell-bent on exploiting the pandemic to grab for himself emergency powers that go beyond the limits imposed by the Constitution,” said the group.
Makabayan Bloc cited Article VI, Section 23(2) of the Constitution that stated that the special powers granted by Congress to the President to deal with a national emergency may only be exercised for a limited period.
Bayanihan 2 Law be effective until Congress adjourns on Dec. 19, 2020, and Makabayan Bloc fears that the provisions within the Act will allow Duterte to still have powers even beyond the expiration or even after his presidency.
“We denounce these unconstitutional provisions that will enable the President to wield powers that are intended to benefit favored foreign and local investors at the expense of the rights and welfare of indigenous peoples, farmers, fisherfolk, and workers,” said Makabayan Bloc.