Displaced workers start getting cash aid
SOME displaced workers have received their P5,000- cash aid for March through remittance centers of the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE), President Rodrigo Duterte reported to Congress on Tuesday, according to Senate President Vicente Sotto 3rd.
Sotto said the President submitted his full report on the implementation of Republic Act (RA) 11469 or the “Bayanihan to Heal as One Act” at 12:40 a.m. on Tuesday.
“It’s quite precise and concise to the spirit of what we expect. Although some provisions are still in process, most are being executed already,” Sotto said in a text message.
“But I will wait for the comments of the oversight committee and consolidate this in a report to the Senate proper,” he said.
Members of the oversight panel — Minority Leader Franklin Drilon
and Senators Panfilo Lacson, Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go and Juliana Pilar “Pia” Cayetano — will review the implementation of the Bayanihan Act.
Sotto said some workers affected by the enhanced quarantine had received P5,000 for the month [of March). He urged those who have yet to get theirs to wait.
“Relax lang, mahina ang kalaban. Hindi instant coffee ito (Just relax, this is not easy. This [effort to distribute cash aid] is not [similar to preparing] instant coffee),” he said.
Sotto added the Department of
Finance and the Department of Social Welfare and Development are finalizing their database.
Drilon however, wanted to know if there was enough fund to implement the Bayanihan Act.
“Do we have enough funds to fight Covid-19?” he asked.
He said that while RA 11469 authorized the President to reprogram, reallocate and realign funds for the immediate roll-out of measures that will respond to the Covid-19 emergency, no special purpose funds (SPFs) have been utilized for Covid-19 measures except for the P500 million replenishment of the Department of Health’s quick response fund.
“We have to see a comprehensive Covid financial package that will cover both the health and economic aspects. The Report does not show us what this looks like,” he said.
“For one, has the government augmented our health workforce? The 2020 budget has funds for the hiring of nurses and doctors under the Miscellaneous and Personnel Benefit Fund,” he said.
Drilon called for the immediate release of funds for programs identified in the law, including the hiring of doctors, nurses and other health workers; purchase of medical supplies and equipment like testing kits, mechanical ventilators; establishment of isolation units; and the operational budget of the Philippine General Hospital, among others.
He urged the government to speed up the implementation of the P200-billion aid to low income households and the immediate release of funding for programs identified in the Bayanihan Act.
Because of the pandemic and the lockdown, Drilon said revenue collections were greatly affected and government disbursements, which account for roughly 20 percent of the gross domestic product, are expected to slow down.
“Our tight fiscal space seriously affects the government’s capabilty to address Covid-19,” he said. This would make the government dependent on loan and aid to address the pandemic, “hence the slow responses.”