Majority of the House of Representatives members expressed support and intent to co-author House Bill 8628 or “Bayanihan to Arise As One Act,” proposed by Speaker Lord Allan Velasco together with Marikina City 2nd District Representative Stella Luz Quimbo on Thursday.

HB 8628 aims to help stimulate the country’s economic recovery. According to Velasco, previous Bayanihan Laws namely Bayanihan to Heal As One and Bayanihan to Recover As One were insufficient for the economic recovery of the country following the 9.5 percent contraction of the Philippine economy which was significantly deeper than the predicted contraction of 4.5 to 6.6 percent.

“Given that the actual economic output in 2020 was far below what was assumed for budget purposes, and further losses may still be incurred as the COVID19 pandemic is expected to prevail well into the current fiscal year, an additional economic stimulus package is needed to help the government meet its recovery targets for the year,” said Velasco.

Salceda cites concern on economic recession

In a separate statement, Salceda expressed concern on the likelihood of stagflation in the country. “Stagflation is the triple whammy of high inflation, low growth, and high unemployment. It’s a problem for economic policymakers because the usual levers of fiscal and monetary policy have tradeoffs,” Salceda said.

Salceda added, “I don’t think we’re in stagflation just yet. You have to remember that low growth in the country is not due to some cyclical reason or some commodity shock, but because of COVID-19 alone.” Salceda pointed out “inflation, unemployment, and low growth definitely hit the poor harder, so we must always take not the aggregate or average view, but the view of the vulnerable.”

P420-B budget breakdown

The P420-billion appropriation for HB 8628 is as follows:

• P52 billion for subsidies to small business for wages and other worker-related expenses;

• P100 billion for the capacity-building of businesses in critically impacted sectors;

• P108 billion for additional social amelioration to impacted households through programs of the Department of Social Welfare and Development;

• P70 billion for the provision of assistance and capacity-building to farmers, livestock producers and fishermen;

• P30 billion for the implementation of unemployment assistance and cash-for-work programs under the Department of Labor and Employment;

• P30 billion for internet allowances to primary, secondary and tertiary students and teachers in public and private educational institutions;

• P5 billion to the Department of Public Works and Highways for the rehabilitation of typhoon-affected areas, including the repair, reconstruction and/or construction of flood control works, roads, bridges, public buildings and other damaged public works, to be distributed proportionately among provinces and cities affected;

• P25 billion to the Department of Health for the procurement of COVID-19 medication and vaccines, and to finance logistics, information awareness campaigns, and other related operational expenses.