MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives on Monday approved on third and final reading the validity extension of the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act until the end of June 2021.
Voting 179-6-0, lawmakers passed House Bill No. 8063 seeking to extend the validity of the law, also known as Bayanihan 2, until June 30, 2020.
Bayanihan 2. which was supposed to expire on December 19 this year, provides for stimulus funding for the government’s coronavirus disease (COVID-19_ response and recovery efforts worth P140 billion in regular appropriation and P25 billion in standby funds.
The extension of its validity would allow for the release of funds yet to be disbursed to government agencies.
The House’s final approval of the bill was made after President Rodrigo Duterte certified its passage as urgent earlier Monday.
Speaker Lord Allan Velasco said the President’s certification allowed to act on the measure immediately and pass it on final reading right after approving it on second reading, doing away with the usual three-day gap between the two steps.
“We cannot agree more with President Duterte on the need to extend the effectivity of Bayanihan 2 in order to accelerate the country’s socioeconomic recovery from the adverse impact brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Velasco, one of the principal authors of the measure, said in a statement.
The President also certified as urgent the passage of a bill that will extend the validity of the 2020 national budget until the end of 2021, which the House had already approved.