House resumes session Monday; Bayanihan 3, COVID-19 aid to be tackled

Plenary Hall of the House of Representatives. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives will be tackling several must-pass bills when it resumes session on Monday,  Speaker Lord Allan Velasco said Sunday.

Velasco said Bayanihan 3 and other COVID-19-related measures will be at the top of the House’s agenda with the legislative chamber looking to make the most out of the remaining three weeks of the 18th Congress’ second regular session to pass the third round of COVID-19 relief package and other related bills.

The 18th Congress will adjourn its second regular session on June 5 and is scheduled to start its third and final regular session on July 26, when President Rodrigo Duterte will deliver his final State of the Nation Address (SONA).

“We need to make sure that we have economic stimulus laws to help our country bounce back better from this pandemic,” Velasco said in a statement. “The House is ready to sit down with the Senate to make sure that these measures become laws before we adjourn.”

The House Committees on Economic Affairs, on Social Services and on Ways and Means have approved a P405.6-billion Bayanihan 3 package, which includes two rounds of cash aids worth P2,000 to be given to every Filipino regardless of social status.

READ: House should prioritize Bayanihan 3 once session resumes — solon

There are substitute bills to several Bayanihan 3 measures, including House Bill 8628 or the proposed “Bayanihan to Arise As One Act,” filed by Velasco and Marikina City 2nd District Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo.

The substitute bills need the approval of the House Committee on Appropriations before it can be reported to the plenary for approval on second and third readings.

Velasco also hoped that the Senate will fast-track its deliberation of the Medical Reserve Corps Act to employ a medical reserve corps “which we can easily mobilize during a public health crisis.”

READ: House bill on Medical Reserve Corps Act hurdles 3rd reading

The Speaker is also pushing for the approval of the bill creating the Philippine Virology Institute and the medical stockpiling bill.

READ: Duterte studying proposal to establish PH’s virology institute — Palace

The House will also continue the plenary deliberations on the Resolution of Both Houses No. 2, seeking to give the next Congress the flexibility to amend the “restrictive” economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution in a bid to fast track economic recovery from new coronavirus, according to Velasco.

“We are looking at lifting the restrictive economic provisions in the Constitution as an intervention to allow substantially more foreign investments for the country’s economic recovery from COVID-19,” Velasco said.

Velasco said changes to the 34-year-old Charter shall be introduced during the next Congress, once the people approve of the proposed economic amendment during a plebiscite that may coincide with the May 2022 polls.

READ: House set to resume Cha-Cha deliberations on May 17

Velasco pointed out that the proposed amendments are “purely economic,” and “no political amendments will be entertained.”

Other agenda are also included in the session, with the chamber slated to approve in plenary the House resolutions concurring with Duterte’s proclamations granting amnesty to Islamic and communist rebels.

READ: House panels concur with amnesty for rebels

“The amnesty program is a huge step toward achieving just and lasting peace in the country and giving former rebels a path back into civilian life,” Velasco said.

“Most of these priority measures have already been approved on third reading by the House,” Velasco pointed out. “Maybe for the next three weeks, we will await Senate action on the bills certified urgent by the President.”

Velasco said these measures include the approval of Senate Bill (SB) 2094 which seeks to amend the Public Service Act; SB 1156 or the amendments to the Foreign Investments Act of 1991; and SB 1840 which aims to amend the Retail Trade Liberalization Act of 2000 by lowering the required paid-up capital for foreign retail enterprises.

Velasco said the House is committed to ensuring timely enactment of “what’s left of the priority measures under the Duterte Administration.”

/MUF