Cayetano: Bayanihan II will avoid past mistakes

Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano vowed that the House of Representatives will improve the proposed Bayanihan To Recover As One Act or Bayanihan II (House Bill 6953) by using its oversight functions and ensure that mistakes of the past will not be repeated.

The speaker said Bayanihan II will institute mechanisms to improve Social Amelioration Package (SAP) distribution.

“We want also to ensure that SAP will be given to all Filipinos who need it most. We respect and acknowledge the tremendous work done by the departments involved, but our citizens cannot afford to wait that long. There must be a better way, and together we will find it,” said Cayetano.

The bill will establish mechanisms that will consolidate, update and validate existing records through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in coordination with the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and local government units. This is expected to lead to a comprehensive, up to date and unified database to properly identify recipients and effectively implement the provision of socio-economic relief. 

Bayanihan II aims to provide an emergency subsidy for low-income families, households with recently returned overseas Filipino workers (OFWs); no-work, no-pay individuals including freelancers and self-employed individuals, and other families or individuals properly identified by the Government as in need of emergency subsidy.

The measure will also give an unemployment or involuntary separation assistance of P10,000 to displaced workers or employees including probationary, project, seasonal, contractual and casual employees in private health institutions, tourism, culture and arts, creative jobs, industries and freelance work. The self-employed, repatriated OFWs and OFWs whose deployment was suspended by the government are included as well.

Cayetano said Congress is also working to include provisions that will strengthen the support system provided by the government for essential workers. This includes better occupational safety conditions, employment benefits, and other measures commensurate to their contribution to the country.

Cayetano added that Congress is working on solutions in the bill to deal with a possible second wave of COVID-19.

“Now we must take the hard lessons we have learned in the past months and apply it in the testing, tracing, and treatment of patients in order to escape the threat of a more devastating second wave,” Cayetano said.

The House Committee of the Whole passed Bayanihan II to address the impact of COVID-19 on the Philippine economy and society last June 3. It extends the effectivity of Republic Act 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act in addition to the provisions mentioned above.