A measure seeking the extension of the validity of the additional powers granted to President Duterte to address the COVID-19 problem has been endorsed in the Senate.
Senator Juan Edgardo Angara, chair of the Senate finance committee, endorsed for plenary approval Senate Bill No. 1564, under Committee Report No. 98, which authorizes the President to exercise “necessary powers” to respond to the pandemic which has left the country’s economy struggling and the health sector under extreme pressure.
Similar to the Bayanihan Act, the measure will grant the President the flexibility to realign budgets from agencies to fund the government’s COVID-19 response. The Bayanihan 2 bill also seeks to establish a standby fund of P236 billion to provide more cash assistance for sectors affected heavily by the pandemic, as well as to intensify and streamline the government’s mass testing program and make it faster, affordable, and accessible to the people.
“This pandemic is a tragedy of many acts. As we begin a chapter, so must we write a new playbook,” Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said in his co-sponsorship of the bill.
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