A senior lawmaker has filed a bill further extending the validity and effectivity of the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan 2) until end of December this year to enable the government to continue implementing its recovery and stimulus measures to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on the economy.
Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte said he filed House Bill 9196 amid the new surge in the virus caseload that has already reached more than 1 million.
The Bayanihan 2, or Republic Act (RA) 11494, which is originally set to lapse on December 19 last year, was first extended through RA 11519 up to June 30, 2021, said Villafuerte, lead proponent in the House of RA 11494 and an author of the law—RA 11519—that first extended Bayanihan 2 before it was to expire when Congress adjourned in December 2020.
“With those overwhelming recorded numbers, the continuing community transmission is rampant and the availability of vaccines for herd immunity is still far fetched. Hence, the country coming to an end from this public health crisis, is yet improbable and unforeseeable. There still persists a threat not only to the people’s livelihood but most importantly to every Filipino’s precious life,” he added.
Villafuerte said the extension “shall give the government the opportunity to continuously implement the recovery and stimulus programs specified in Bayanihan 2, most especially in allocating funds for more essential and relevant expenses necessary to recover from the distressing effects of this global pandemic.”
His proposal to extend Bayanihan 2 also cover the powers and authorities that enabled the government to provide emergency assistance to vulnerable groups and individuals, expand medical resources to fight Covid-19, and finance emergency initiatives to keep the economy afloat amid the global shock unleashed by the pandemic.
Under HB 9196, the balances of fund transfers between agencies, instrumentalities and government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs), which, while obligated, remain unused, unutilized, unexpended, and undisbursed as of December 31, 2021, shall revert to the unappropriated surplus of the General Fund.
“Agency outsourcing requests or agreements by agencies, instrumentalities and/or government-owned and -controlled corporations with Philippine International Trading Corp. [PITC] shall not be allowed. Any balances of fund transfers in the books of the PITC shall revert to the unappropriated surplus of the General Fund upon effectivity of this Act,” HB 9196 added.
Earlier, Villafuerte called on the Department of Health, Interagency Task Force on the Management of Infectious Diseases and the National Task Force Against Covid-19 to render updates on the projects supposed to have been funded under Bayanihan 2 to contain the prolonged pandemic.
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