Villafuerte thanks Duterte for signing Bayanihan 2 law, urges prompt release of P165B

Deputy Speaker LRay Villafuerte has welcomed President Rodriguo Duterte’s enactment of the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan 2) as he expressed hope that Budget Secretary Wendell Avisado would release P165 billion in economic stimulus funds as soon as possible.

Villafuerte, lead author in the House of both Bayanihan 1 (Bayanihan to Heal as One Act) and Bayanihan 2, said the President’s signing of Bayanihan 2 would let Malacañang scale up its Covid-19 response while extending immediate financial aid to distressed companies.

“Bayanihan 2 would vest President Duterte anew with special powers to realign state resources and carry out urgent programs to scale up Covid-19 active response at both the national and local government levels while providing immediate succor to businesses, most especially MSMEs that employ the majority of Filipino workers, devastated by the unprecedented economic crisis bedevilling the domestic and global economies,” he said.

He said “the prompt release of Bayanihan 2 stimulus funds for the pandemic-hit businesses would hasten economic recovery as the continued, calibrated easing of the mobility restrictions nationwide is likely to boost business and consumer confidence in the domestic economy.”

The lawmaker voiced optimism that Bayanihan 2’s P165.5-billion budget—comprising a P140-billion regular outlay and a P25.5 billion standby fund—“would just be an initial stimulus package, considering the immense resources required to spell a strong and early recovery for the sectors reeling from the global economic fallout unleashed by the coronavirus pandemic.”

“We are hoping that Malacañang would be able to raise more resources in the months ahead to bankroll further stimulus packages needed for an early and strong economic rebound,” he said.

According to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), over 3 million workers have permanently or temporarily lost their jobs amid the pandemic.

Labor Assistant Secretary Dominique Tutay was quoted in a media report as tracing the job dislocation to the growing number of businesses that could no longer sustain their operations because of the work stoppages resulting from the protracted mobility restrictions since March.

Villafuerte said the Congress-approved Bayanihan 2 bill set aside the biggest slice of the stimulus fund for soft loans to badly-hit sectors such as the MSME, transport, tourism and agriculture groups “to help them get back on their feet at the soonest in the face of the global economic downturn.”

The post Villafuerte thanks Duterte for signing Bayanihan 2 law, urges prompt release of P165B first appeared on Latest Philippine politics news today.

Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)