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The co-chair of the Economic Group of the House of Representatives presented a bill on Tuesday that provides for a Bayanihan of 400,000 million pesos to be lifted as a single law, while ordering the National Authority for Economy and Development (Neda) to draft a plan to improve the country’s long-term economy. and disaster resilience.
In House Bill 8031, Marikina Representative Stella Luz A. Quimbo said she introduced the Bayanihan Act 3 to provide additional funding and strengthen government efforts and response to the current public health crisis. complicated by three successive typhoons that hit most of Luzon.
According to Quimbo, the spending package of 400,000 million pesos seeks to guarantee that the aid is available within the framework of the state’s social improvement program, rehabilitate areas damaged by natural calamities, maintain the delivery of basic goods and services, implement infrastructure projects. high impact, help companies maintain them. afloat and keep the economy on the right track.
The bill proposes to allocate P100 billion to subsidize company salary payments or other expenses related to workers, P100 billion for capacity building in affected sectors, P90 billion for additional social improvement of households affected (of which P20 billion is earmarked for households in typhoon-devastated areas), P30 billion for assistance to displaced workers (including cash for clean-up and cash for housing construction in typhoon-devastated areas), P50 billion for the rehabilitation of typhoon-affected areas, P25 billion for Covid -19 treatments and vaccines, and P5 billion for the provision of internet allowances to teachers and students.
Quimbo said the proposal will also ask Neda to come up with a long-term plan, which will be resistant to future shocks like pandemics and typhoons. It also directs the agency to review the Flood Management Master Plan for Metro Manila and surrounding areas to improve disaster risk reduction and resilience.
She said the money allocated to combat Covid-19 under the 2021 spending plan is miniscule, representing just P248 billion of the total P838.4 billion earmarked for the pandemic response that also included about P590 billion for low infrastructure. the central government program, the Build, Build, Build Program.
But for the country to fully rise from the Covid crisis, Quimbo said that the Bayanihan 3 guarantees adequate financing for the acquisition of vaccines and a constant flow of aid, or help low-income families.
Quimbo’s proposal also aims to provide intervention measures in cases of calamity, such as cash for work, emergency subsidies, adequate infrastructure funds for typhoon-hit areas, among others.
The legislator also recognizes that assistance to companies is essential for the preservation of employment, which is why subsidies are provided to workers in the bill, which will cover the payment of tests and sick leave, among other programs. capacity building for critically impacted companies to help them adapt to the new normal.
The proposed Bayanihan 3 seeks to extend the effectiveness of the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan II) as its provisions remain critical to recovery beyond December 2020.
“The government must also anticipate the need for additional response measures, given that Bayanihan II will cease to be in force and will enter into force on December 19 of the current year, while the effects of the pandemic, and the virus in yes, prevail well into 2021, “she added.
