Revival of P10K one-time aid to poor families raised
CAMARINES Sur LRay Villafuerte has raised the possibility of reviving the “Ayuda” bill that aims to provide a one-time P10,000 cash aid to poor families.
Villafuerte said this even if it was already consolidated and substituted with the proposed third Bayanihan law, now that this P401-billion stimulus package could now end up gathering dust in the legislature after both Malacañang and the Senate expressed a lack of interest in supporting the measure.
He said that discussions on the Ayuda bill, which was authored by former Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, Villafuerte and the other members of the independent majority bloc BTS sa Kongreso, could be reopened at the committee level when the 18th Congress reopens for its third and final session next month after President Duterte’s last State of the Nation Address (SONA).
The Ayuda measure, originally House Bill (HB) 8597, was consolidated and substituted with HB 9411—the proposed Bayanihan to Arise as One Act or Bayanihan 3—which was approved on third and final reading by the House of Representatives last June 1 before the Legislature’s sine die adjournment.
Villafuerte said that HB 8597 aims to provide qualified households with a one-time P10,000 assistance or P1,500 per family member, whichever is higher, that they can use to spend for their daily needs or as seed capital to start their own businesses amid the prolonged pandemic.
With the House-approved Bayanihan 3 seemingly as “dead in the water”, Villafuerte said “the fastest way for the Congress to provide immediate relief in the form of disposable income to pandemic-hit Filipino families is by passing the Ayuda bill as a separate measure while Bayanihan 3 could be gathering dust in the Legislature.”
“The House leadership needs to closely coordinate with senators and the President’s economic team in finetuning this measure to ensure enough funding for the measure as well as full support from both Malacañang and the Senate,” Villafuerte said.
Villafuerte pointed out earlier that Bayanihan 3 could end up stuck in the House because the Senate and Malacañang both said it was not a priority measure at this time, especially with the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act or Bayanihan 2 still with available funds that have yet to be disbursed to the concerned agencies or spent on the appropriate Covid-19 response programs.
The lead author in the House of both Bayanihan 2 and the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act (Bayanihan 1), Villafuerte said the House needs to thoroughly discuss the Ayuda bill with the President’s economic team to ensure adequate sources of funding for the measure, and also with senators to work out a version that would eventually win Senate approval.
Villafuerte insisted that the Ayuda bill was an urgent measure to boost economic activity, as the one-time cash aid would revive consumer demand and speed up recovery, given that household spending accounts for 70% of the Philippine economy.
“The current mobility restrictions, which could be prolonged because of the recent spikes in coronavirus infections in places outside Metro Manila like Davao and Iloilo cities, underscore the need for the speedy approval of the Ayuda bill, Villafuerte said.
