Senate approves Bayanihan 2 bill on 3rd reading

AS PROMISED, the Senate on Tuesday, July 28, 2020, approved the Bayanihan 2 bill on third reading with 22 affirmative votes and one negative vote.

Only Senator Francis Pangilinan voted against the measure.

Senate Bill 1564, or Bayanihan to Recover as One Act, will extend the special powers granted to President Duterte under the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, or Republic Act No. 11469, to respond to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

The bill provides for a P140-billion standby fund.

The approved version of SB 1564 includes amendments inserted by Senator Ramon Revilla Jr., as follows:

• Provision of an emergency subsidy to affected low-income households in areas under enhanced community quarantine and to households with returned overseas Filipino workers (OFWs);
• Provision of one month emergency subsidy to low-income households who are qualified but were not given subsidy as mandated under Section 4c of the Republic Act No. 11469; and
• Provision of Covid-19 special risk allowance for all public health workers on a monthly basis for every month that they have been serving during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a series of tweets, Pangilinan said he believed that 13 of the 26 interventions listed in the measure to effectively combat the pandemic are not likely to be achieved unless Health Secretary Francisco Duque III resigns.

"I am afraid that under the mediocre leadership displayed consistently since the pandemic hit, none of these 13 interventions will be met or achieved and billions of funds will be spent yet again without achieving the results necessary to manage the spread of the disease effectively," Pangilinan stated.

"Without an effective management of the spread of the disease, we will be unable to reopen the economy and in failing to reopen the economy due to the failure to bring Covid to manageable levels, then our economic recovery will be elusive and widespread hunger and joblessness will persist," he added.

The senators were among those who had called for Duque's resignation. The Department of Health (DOH) chief, however, has refused to step down, saying he still enjoys the trust of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Pangilinan noted that aside from the DOH's poor performance, the amount approved is not enough to address the economic losses from the pandemic.

The original version of the bill, as proposed by Senator Juan Edgardo Angara, allocated P236 billion. The amount was also approved in the committee report.

Angara said he was grateful that his colleagues support the swift passage of the bill.

"Our office has been in receipt of many other proposals. We will consider these during the bicam (bicameral conference) once the House approves their measure," he said.

Senator Grace Poe said the passage of the measure will provide more safeguards "on how we will address the Covid-19 crisis".

Senator Richard Gordon, for his part, said the bill is the government's best effort in securing funds for government agencies amid the Covid-19 crisis.

"This is the best effort bill given the circumstances. The next step now is making sure our oversight covers the efficiency of agencies so we know we don't throw away good money, " he said.

Unlike the first Bayanihan law, which expired in June, the Senate bill repeals the provision allowing the President to take over hospitals and private facilities during the crisis. (Marites Villamor-Ilano/Jove Moya/VoxPop Philippines)