MANILA, Philippines — House Deputy Speaker Mikee Romero has vowed to continue crafting laws that will help the country, especially the poor, to recover from the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Romero, whose 1-Pacman Partylist is again vying for congressional seats in the 2022 polls, has crafted 795 House bills and resolutions with 57 Republic Acts with the help of his team.
The two-termer solon and president of the Partylist Coalition Foundation Inc. said they would like to author more bills that will address the experiences and realities on the ground.
An example of such legislation is the House Bill No. 9310 or otherwise known as the “Patak-Patak COVID-19 Hospitalization Payment Plan.”
“There are reports that COVID-19 positive patients have to pay more than P1 million in order to survive the virus, aside from the mental and emotional toll, paying such amount will surely put them in debt when they have already lost jobs and employment because of the pandemic, we cannot afford to lose a life just because of their capacity to pay,” he said.
The Patak-Patak COVID-19 Hospitalization Payment Plan seeks to assist COVID-19 patients to get through their hospital bills, “to ease the burden of payment that our countrymen have to endure in these most trying of times.”
Another example of helpful legislation are the Bayanihan 1 and Bayanihan 2, which he helped craft.
Bayanihan 1 and Bayanihan 2 provided the national government with P12 billion for COVID-19 testing kits, P18 billion for cash-for-work programs and TUPAD to help displaced workers, and other programs that helped accelerate the country’s economic recovery from the pandemic.
To complement the procurement of the COVID-19 vaccines, the solon also pledged to be part of the largest humanitarian effort to reach far flung areas for COVID-19 vaccine distribution through Philippines AirAsia, where he is the major shareholder.