The House Ways and Means Committee approved a substitute bill for the third Bayanihan bill, which would provide direct emergency and social assistance to Filipinos, as well as livelihood and food security measures.
House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco advised the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to make the vaccine rollout a priority for the National Capital Region (NCR) Plus and other cities with a high concentration of Covid-19 cases.
REP. LUCY: "This is a time that calls for calm and sound leadership. Let us steer away from drastic actions. Let us all work together to keep our boat afloat during this turbulent time."
The House Ways and Means Committee vowed to put more pressure on implementing agencies to enforce excise taxes more strictly in order to reduce smuggling and tax evasion.
On Thursday, a lawmaker in the House of Representatives emphasized the importance of enacting a general law that protects all vaccinated individuals from those who refuse to receive the Covid-19 vaccines.
Although there is no cure for Covid-19, health, pharmacy, and medical experts have devised a treatment plan that includes the use of some medications and therapeutics that are medically approved for the treatment of Covid-19.
House Bill 8626 or the proposed Bayanihan 3 bill aims to assist businesses, distressed households, the unemployed, etc., by giving cash aid or ayuda regardless of economic status. The bill is expected to be approved with a P420 billion budget.
Albay Rep. Joey Salceda on Wednesday urged President Rodrigo Duterte to designate Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez as overall Covid-19 crisis manager to make the government’s response more holistic and coordinated.
Marikina City Rep. Stella Quimbo said high unemployment has persisted throughout the pandemic, noting that the reimposed enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) puts workers at even greater risk and takes away the pay of the 5.25 million no work, no pay workers in affected areas.