Bayanihan 3 law seeks P247B for response, recovery programs

Three House officials filed on Monday their version of the third Bayanihan law that would allocate P247 billion for additional emergency response and economic recovery programs.

House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez, Deputy Speaker Sharon Garin and House ways and means chair Joey Salceda said House Bill No. 8059 would put a stop and halt the COVID-19 disease in the Philippines through vaccine acquisition and free access to it. It further reconditions the economy, particularly the sectors that have been gravely affected by the pandemic. It focuses the government assistance [on] the banking sectors, rentals, business, livelihood, workers, agriculture, education and health.The proposed law allocates P20 billion for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines and calls for the creation of an interagency committee to efficiently allocate and distribute vaccines, with health workers and people with comorbidities to be prioritized.

Also included are fiscal interventions, including P40 billion for the local government support fund for calamity response, P100 billion for health and resiliency related infrastructure programs, P10 billion for the agriculture and fisheries sector, and P7 billion for government banks for rent refinancing and loan restructuring.

Other interventions are P10 billion in loans to companies to pay their employees’ 13th pay, P10 billion for displaced workers, P10 billion for COVID assistance measures, P10 billion for individuals in crisis situations, P10 billion for medical assistance for indigents, P5 billion each for the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and the Commission on Higher Education for the training of displaced workers, and P10 billion for the Department of Education’s assistance for students and faculty. INQ