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MANILA, Philippines – House Vice Speaker Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr. on Saturday urged the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to release stimulus funds to prop up the economy after President Duterte signed the Bayanihan of P165 billion to recover as an act, or Bayanihan 2.
Villafuerte said the early release of Bayanihan 2 funds for businesses affected by the pandemic would speed up economic recovery, especially with the gradual easing of mobility restrictions across the country.
This, he said in a statement, would boost business and consumer confidence in the national economy.
The Camarine Sur legislator welcomed the enactment of the Bayanihan 2 law and said it would allow the executive to boost his response to COVID-19 while extending immediate financial assistance to distressed businesses, especially micro, small and medium-sized businesses. companies (MIPYMES).
“Bayanihan 2 would again grant President Duterte special powers to realign state resources and carry out urgent programs to scale up the active response to COVID-19 at both the national and local government levels,” he said.
At the same time, Villafuerte said there would be “immediate help” for companies, especially MSMEs that employ the majority of Filipino workers.
Bayanihan 2 allocates a regular outlay of P140 billion and a reserve fund of P25.5 billion for a wide range of industries affected by the pandemic.
Most of its budget will go to soft loans for the most affected sectors such as MSMEs, transport, tourism and agriculture.
Like the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, the bill provides for an emergency subsidy of P5,000 to P8,000 for affected low-income households in areas under granular lockdown and for households with Filipino workers abroad. who recently returned.
It also allocates grants and allowances to qualified students at both private and public elementary schools, high schools and universities, whose families were affected by the work stoppage amid the closures, and a one-time monetary aid for displaced teaching and non-teaching employees.
An additional 13.5 billion pesos was allocated for health-related responses, including the retroactive payment of the payment of rights for risk of 100,000 pesos for health workers from February 2020, the continued employment of existing emergency health personnel , increased operations of the Department of Health hospitals, and a risk allowance for health workers who care for patients with COVID-19.
Another P3 billion will be used to purchase masks, face shields and personal protective equipment, while P4.5 billion will be used for the construction of temporary isolation and quarantine facilities.
“We hope that Malacañang can raise more resources in the coming months to finance more stimulus packages necessary for an early and strong economic recovery,” Villafuerte said.
He was referring to the proposals approved by the House of Representatives on the Law of Economic Stimulus for the Reduction of Unemployment COVID-19 of P1.5 trillion and the Law of Stimulus of Accelerated Recovery and Investments of P1.3 trillion for the Economy , which the Senate has not yet approved.
The two measures call for aggressive spending to boost the economy and mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the most affected sectors.
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For more information on COVID-19, call the DOH hotline: (02) 86517800 local 1149/1150.
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