While a third Bayanihan law to stimulate the flagging economy is welcome, the country’s budget managers must state how or where they will find the fiscal space to allocate an extra P400 billion for pandemic relief, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said on Monday.
While saying he was open to proposals from the Senate and the House of Representatives to legislate what would be the largest installment yet of the Bayanihan economic stimulus package, Drilon had questions about the source of funding.
“How will such expenditures or budget be financed, given the reluctance of the DOF (Department of Finance) to borrow?” he told the Inquirer in a text message.
“Is Bayanihan 3 a special appropriation bill? If so, will the national treasurer be able to certify as to the availability of funds, as required in the Constitution?” Drilon added.
For Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, a proponent of the Bayanihan 3 bill, the measure would have to be financed with loans and borrowings from other countries or multilateral institutions.
“What’s important is how money is spent or invested. For as long as the economy’s growth rate is higher than the rate of increase in debt, our ability to pay is improved. More so with low interest rates,” Recto told the Inquirer.
A new House bill filed by Speaker Lord Allan Velasco and Marikina Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo allocates P420 billion to subsidize small businesses, give cash aid to indigent households, and provide assistance to farmers and fisherfolk, while an earlier version filed by Recto asks for P485 billion.
Either of the two proposals would still be bigger than the earlier Bayanihan packages.
Under Bayanihan 1, the government realigned about P275 billion from the 2020 budget for pandemic response while an additional P165.5 billion was earmarked for COVID-19 relief under Bayanihan 2.
Recto, who filed his version of the Bayanihan 3 bill in December, cited the urgent need for more fiscal stimuli during the pandemic.
“[We must] ensure we have resources to inoculate all those who need it and provide relief to families and businesses,” he said in a Viber message.
‘Take a second look’
Recto said it would not be difficult to reconcile details of his Senate Bill No. 1953 with Velasco and Quimbo’s House Bill No. 8628.
Drilon said he had not studied either of the two bills but would like to scrutinize the expenditures under the proposals.
“Moreover, I would like to review how much of the pandemic-related authorizations under the 2020 GAA (General Appropriations Act), and the Bayanihans 1 and 2 were funded and disbursed,” he added.
Quimbo, meanwhile, noted that the treasury recorded P1.6 billion in cash balances as of November 2020, which could be tapped as a potential source of funds.
“Before they say that we cannot afford it … I hope they take a second look at this Bayanihan 3 and objectively assess all the data that we have, particularly job losses and business closures,” she said.
She cited the Philippine Statistics Authority’s recent announcement that the gross domestic product contracted by 9.5 percent last year amid the pandemic.
“When we first filed the Bayanihan 3 bills in November, it wasn’t yet official that our GDP contracted by that much. Now it’s official, it’s a 9.5-percent contraction. So I hope they take a second look,” Quimbo said.
Velasco said the Bayanihan 3 was backed by 115 out of 304 lawmakers in the House of Representatives, since the two previous Bayanihan laws were not enough to ensure economic recovery amid the pandemic.
A Palace official, however, said there were enough allocations in this year’s P4.5 trillion budget to help revive the economy amid the pandemic.
“Our consistent position is that we have enough fiscal stimulus in our annual budget, and we are still implementing Bayanihan 2,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said at a press briefing. INQ