House passes Bayanihan 2 bill

August 10, 2020

With a vote of 242 against six and zero abstention, the House of Representatives on Monday approved on third and final reading the proposed P162 billion coronavirus disease  (COVID-19) roadmap for economic recovery, improving the health care system, provide financial aid, and create jobs for displaced Filipinos.

House Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez lauded his colleagues for approving the measure upon the request of President Rodrigo Duterte to address the country’s dire situation”.

“The House leadership is extending its gratitude to our colleagues for responding to the call of President Duterte to pass the COVID roadmap for economic recovery,” said Romualdez, referring to the passage of House Bill (HB) No. 6953 or the Bayanihan: We Recover as One Act or the Bayanihan 2.

Romualdez, the chairman of the powerful House committee on rules, said the measure will help restore the public trust and confidence on social and economic institutions.

Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano said the “Bayanihan to Recover as One is a huge first step” to economic recovery.

Among the components of the P162-billion Bayanihan 2 are P10 billion for COVID-19 expanded testing and treatment of patients; P10.5 billing for the Department Health (DoH) for additional personnel and benefits, and fund augmentation to hospitals; P3 billion for face masks and other personal protective equipment items; P4 billion for temporary isolation and quarantine facilities; and P20 billion for cash-for-work for displaced workers; P51 billion to help micro, small and medium businesses.

The bill also includes P20 billion for cash or interest subsidies for farmers, P10 billion for the transportation industry; P10 billion for the tourism sector; P3 billion for state universities and colleges; P600 million for subsidies and allowances to qualified students of public and private tertiary schools; P300 million as subsidies to affected teaching and non-teaching personnel of public and private schools; P12 billion for the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), P4 billion for the Department of Education (DepEd); P1.5 billion for local government units; and P820 million for the repatriation of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). DMS