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Recto files P485B Bayanihan 3 bill

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NO CONCRETE PLAN ON VACCINATION: Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto during the hybrid plenary session Wednesday, December 9, 2020, says he is surprised that the executive branch did not reach out to the bicameral conference committee to present the appropriation needed to purchase COVID-19 vaccines and the logistical cost requirement to inoculate the public next year. In discussing the 2021 national budget bicameral conference committee report, Sen. Sonny Angara said he was not aware of the details of the government’s plan on vaccination but reported that a total of P72.5 billion was allocated for vaccines, P70 billion of which is part of the unprogrammed appropriations for 2021. “I was hoping that during the bicam, the executive would talk to both chairs and I was thinking that they would be making a request. More so today that we see that roll out has begun and you need to make advance payments for these vaccines,” Recto said. He expressed hope that the allocation was properly included in the budget so there would be no delay in procuring the vaccines and inoculating the 70 percent target of the population. (Screen grab/ Senate PRIB)

MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto has filed a third Bayanihan measure that would provide P485 billion in funding to “help the country bounce back” from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recto filed Senate Bill No. 1953 or the proposed Bayanihan to Rebuild as One Act “as a continuing response to soften the impact of an economic downturn, accelerate the economic recovery of the country and respond to the urgent needs of areas battered by the recent typhoons.”

Under the bill, the P485-billion allocation will be used to fund the following COVID-19 recovery efforts:

P55 billion for the procurement of COVID-19 medication and vaccines P55 billion for the handling of vaccines, hiring of contact tracers, testing and treatment under PhilHealth, and payment of actual hazard duty pay P100 billion for worker subsidies P100 billion for the capacity building of critically impacted sectors P70 billion for additional social amelioration to affected households P20 billion for assistance to households that have been severely impacted by recent typhoons P30 billion for assistance to displaced workers P50 billion for rehabilitation of typhoon-affected areas P3 billion for internet allowances for Department of Education K-12 teachers and students P2 billion for the Commission on Higher Education for internet allowances for tertiary level teachers and students.

“It has been more than two hundred and seventy (270) days since the community quarantine started on March 15, 2020. While vaccine shots are hopefully available next year to inoculate millions of Filipinos, Bayanihan 3 should nevertheless be enacted in order to help the economy further recover both from the twin challenges of the pandemic and natural calamities which continuously grapple the country,” Recto said in the bill’s explanatory note.

A similar bill was filed in the House of Representatives last November, providing for a P247-billion allocation to help cushion the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic to the country.

Congress has earlier passed two Bayanihan laws since the start of the pandemic earlier this year.

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