No need to rush passage of Bayanihan 3: Palace

MANILA – Malacañang does not see a problem should Congress fails to pass the proposed Bayanihan 3 bill on third and final reading before it adjourns sine die on June 5.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the country’s economic managers led by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III assured that the country still has available funds taken from the 2021 national budget and the Bayanihan to Recover As One Act or Bayanihan 2.

“Nagpapasalamat nga kami sa Kamara para sa Bayanihan 3 pero ang naging consistent position po ng economic team na pinangungunahan ni Secretary Dominguez, titignan muna natin kung sapat na yung nasa budget natin sa 2021. At bukod pa diyan, mayroon pa tayong butal na pondo galing sa Bayanihan 2 (We are grateful to the House for Bayanihan 3 but the consistent position of the economic team led by Secretary Dominguez, is we will first see if we have enough in our budget for 2021. And apart from that, we still have remaining funds from in Bayanihan 2),” he said in a Palace press briefing.

Roque said the Palace welcomes the passage of Bayanihan 3 as a good “fallback” but noted that there is no need to rush its passage.

“We welcome Bayanihan 3 as a fallback pero mukhang hindi pa po urgent ang passage ng Bayanihan 3 dahil ginagastos pa po natin ang existing budget natin (but it looks like there’s no need for it to be urgent because we are still spending funds from our existing budget),” he said.

He noted that there is still time to pass the proposed Bayanihan 3 even if the June 5 adjournment of Congress is less than a week away.

“Wala naman pong problema kung hindi maipasa during the second regular session ng 18th Congress itong Bayanihan 3 (There is no problem if Bayanihan 3 is not passed during the second regular session of the 18th Congress),” he added.

On May 25, the House of Representatives approved on second reading the proposed Bayanihan 3 bill which provides funds amounting to over PHP401 billion to those affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since the proposed Bayanihan 3 bill was not certified as urgent by Malacañang, the bill would face final reading three session days after it was approved on the second reading.

Meanwhile, its counterpart measure in the Senate has yet to move forward.