Use of Bayanihan 2 funds for 2022 elections feared

MANILA, Philippines — An opposition lawmaker warned that the funds allocated for the proposed Bayanihan to Recover As One Act could end up in the campaign chests of administration candidates in the 2022 elections if they are not properly audited.

“This will just concentrate more power and funds to Malacañang,” Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate said of House Bill No. 6953, or the so-called Bayanihan 2 law.

“Worse, it may even be funneled to also fund the campaign kitties of Malacañang’s allies for the upcoming elections,” the leader of the Makabayan bloc said in a statement on Sunday.

Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate. INQUIRER.net file photo / Noy Morcoso

The House passed the Bayanihan 2 package on second reading last Wednesday and is expected to be approved on third reading this week, according to Deputy Speaker Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr., the bill’s sponsor.

The bill allocates P10 billion for COVID-19 health insurance coverage, P51 billion for capital infusion to government lending institutions and P20 billion for the cash-for-work program.

It also earmarks P20 billion for low-interest credit for the agriculture sector and P10.5 billion for the hiring of additional health-care workers and arrangements for risk allowance, life insurance and compensation for death and critical illness.

Another P3 billion will be used to purchase personal protective equipment for front-liners and indigents. It also provides for a compensation benefit of P100,000 to health-care workers infected with COVID-19, as well as P1 million to the family of each front-liner who dies from the illness.

The bill is a follow-up to Republic Act No. 11469, or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, which the new measure will repeal once enacted.