Speaker Lord Allan Velasco on Tuesday said the House of
Representatives is determined to pass a third COVID-19 relief package to aid
struggling Filipinos and revive the country’s pandemic-ravaged economy.
In a radio interview, Velasco said the legislative chamber
will hasten the plenary approval of the proposed Bayanihan 3 law once it
resumes session on May 17.
“As soon as we get back on May 17, we will fast-track the
approval of Bayanihan 3,” Velasco told radio station DZME.
Velasco made the statement after three House committees
approved during the break the substitute bill to several Bayanihan 3 measures,
including House Bill 8628 or the proposed “Bayanihan to Arise As One Act,”
which he and Marikina City 2nd District Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo had filed.
The substitute bill only needs the approval of the House
Committee on Appropriations before it can be reported to the plenary for
approval on second and third readings.
The House Committees on Economic Affairs, on Social Services
and on Ways and Means recently approved a P405.6-billion Bayanihan 3, which
includes two rounds of cash aid amounting to P1,000 per Filipino.
The cash aid, totaling P216 billion, would be given to all
108 million Filipinos regardless of social status.
“Lahat po dapat mabigyan natin ng tulong ngayong pandemya,”
Velasco pointed out.
He added: “It has to be equitable. Hindi ‘yung isang
household bibigyan ng certain amount e baka tatatlo lang sila sa bahay tapos
ang isang household naman ay 15 ang myembro. Dapat po pantay-pantay.”
Velasco said the House is constantly communicating with the
Department of Finance (DOF) as to the funding sources for Bayanihan 3.
“Konting discussions na lang with DOF maipapasa natin ito,”
he added.
To raise funds for Bayanihan 3, Congress seeks to authorize
the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to make additional advances with or without
interest to the national government to finance expenditures authorized by law
to address and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It also wants to increase from 50 percent to 75 percent the
mandatory dividend remittances by government-owned and controlled corporations
(GOCCs) and to grant the President the power to withdraw capital from
overcapitalized GOCCs.
In pushing for Bayanihan 3, Velasco said that while the two
previous Bayanihan laws have increased the government’s initial capacity to
respond to the pandemic, these were “not sufficient for the genuine economic
recovery of the country.”
He strongly believes that a third economic stimulus package
will provide much-needed lifeline to individuals, families and businesses
severely affected by the pandemic.
Apart from providing social amelioration to every Filipino,
Velasco’s Bayanihan 3 bill seeks to allocate funds for capacity-building for
impacted sectors, wage subsidies, capacity-building for agricultural producers,
internet allowances for students and teachers, COVID-19 treatment and vaccines,
and rehabilitation of areas ravaged by recent floods and typhoons. - House of Representatives of the Philippines
