Senate in no rush to tackle 3rd stimulus package bill as Bayanihan II funds still available
THE SENATE is not prioritizing the measure providing a 3rd stimulus package for the government’s coronavirus response or the Bayanihan III before session adjourns this week, Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III said on Monday.
The Palace also maintained that the proposed third Bayanihan law is not necessary for now, saying the government should allow the 2021 national budget and previous stimulus packages to run their course before passing another measure.
“The Bayanihan III, for this last week, might not be able to hurdle it as far as the Senate is concerned because we have barely four days. And there are a lot on our plate,” Mr. Sotto said in an interview over ABS-CBN News Channel.
He noted that the Bayanihan II fund is still valid and there are still unused allocations. “The programmed funds, I understand, is about, has only been 50% of the total allocation. And out of the 50% that has been allocated, only 70% is used,” he said.
He said that they may take up the Bayanihan III bill when session resumes. Congress is set to adjourn on June 5 and will resume on July 26.
Presidential Spokesman Herminio “Harry” L. Roque, Jr., meanwhile, told a televised news briefing that while Malacañang welcomes Bayanihan III “as a fallback,” it is not considered as urgent.
OTHER MEASURES
Mr. Sotto said there are other important measures that they have to tackle such as the amendment on the Public Service Act, Foreign Investments Act, and the creation of an agency for overseas Filipinos.
The bills for the amendment of the Public Service Act and the Foreign Investment Act were certified as urgent by the Palace.
The Bayanihan III measure was also not included among the priorities in the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council meeting last week.
“I think the main reason is just what I told you that the Bayanihan II funding is still partly intact,” he said.
Mr. Sotto also said there are differences between the measures filed in the Senate and the House of Representatives, citing in particular the “contentious issue” of pension for retired uniformed personnel. “We don’t feel that it should be included in the Bayanihan III.”
The House of Representatives last week approved on second reading House Bill No. 9411 or the Bayanihan III, which proposes a P401-billion economic stimulus package.
The Senate version under Bill No. 1953, filed by Senator Ralph G. Recto in December, contains P485 billion. The bill is pending before the Senate economic affairs and finance committees. Senator Juan Edgardo M. Angara, chair of the finance committee, said in a text message over the weekend that the measure “most likely will be tacked in depth in the coming months.”
Meanwhile, Senator Francis N. Pangilinan last week filed a bill to extend Republic Act No. 11494 or the Bayanihan to recover as One Act, otherwise known as Bayanihan II, until the end of the year. It is set to expire on June 30.
He noted in the explanatory note of the bill that of the P259.8-billion fund, only P132.6 billion or 51.06% has been obliged. Of the allocated amount, P93.3 billion or 70.34% has been disbursed, citing a report by the Department of Budget and Management as of April 15. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas and Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
