BAYAN Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate urged President Rodrigo Duterte to call for a special session to discuss the proposed Ayuda Bill and P100 daily wage subsidy.

Zarate said these two important measures will help address worsening poverty due to longer lockdown particularly in the National Capital Region and nearby provinces.

President Duterte must follow the lead of poorer countries like Vietnam in giving aid to workers, Zarate said.

Due to the pandemic caused by coronavirus disease (COVID-19), many Filipinos have lost their jobs and some small and medium businesses cut their workforce.

Pending in the House of Representatives is the P10K Ayuda Bill which intends to provide financial assistance to all families in NCR and other provinces affected by the longer community quarantine.

The progressive party-list groups likewise proposed P100 daily wage subsidy to daily-wage earners because the present P503 daily salary is no longer enough to feed a family.

“Our workers are hungry and in dire need and the government should provide aid for them. After all, according to government data itself Pres. Duterte has borrowed trillions of pesos for COVID response and its about time that these funds be given to those who need it most instead of useless projects like NTF ELCAC,” Zarate said.

The Makabayan bloc is pushing for the reallocation of the P19 billion funds of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict to more importat programs of the government such the financial assistance to the poor and jobless

“Actually because government failed to control the rising inflation, the P100/daily wage subsidy is only giving back to the workers what they lost in terms of real wages due to rising prices of basic commodities. This will not only help the workers, but could contribute as a multiplier effect on the economy and help small business every time the workers spend this amount for their daily needs. A hungry people and those in dire need could exacerbate the pandemic because people are forced to go out more often to look for income or food,” he added.

With the special session, there is a need to fast track this for the millions of families to have additional aid to weather this crisis.

“It is imperative, thus, that Pres.Duterte should immediately call for a special session of Congress and certify the P100 wage subsidy and P10K ayuda bills as urgent,”Zarate added.

The Philippines must follow the COVID response of Vietnam which even has a lower GDP than the Philippines. Vietnam has given US$ 77 (Php 3,850.00) per month to all workers, including part-time workers, forced to take unpaid leave or whose contracts were suspended.

Vietnam not only provides unemployment insurance to displaced workers but even gives US $43/month (Php 2,150.00) to workers who for some reason are not qualified for unemployment insurance.

Vietnam even suspended payment of workers premium for their social security and other pension and reduced by the 10% the retail price of their electricity, as well as the wholesale price of electricity in rural areas to help small business and ordinary people weather the pandemic.