Bayanihan 2 to include funds for COVID-19 vaccines

MANILA, Philippines — Congress will amend the proposed Bayanihan to Recover as One Act it passed recently to provide funding for the purchase of the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines until the end of the year, according to Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri.

Zubiri yesterday said the government must act quickly to ensure that the country has early and easy access to coronavirus vaccines reportedly set to be rolled out soon from Russia and the United Kingdom, with similar serums to be mass produced from Japan, China and Europe in the coming months.

“We will set aside funds for the purchase of vaccines so we don’t have to wait until 2021. We’re looking at the -ber months, (when) there could be many vaccines already and we don’t want to be left behind in buying them,” he told reporters through a video conference.

The senator had earlier said Congress would put an allocation for the purchase of vaccines in the 2021 national budget.

He could not say for sure how much out of the bill, dubbed Bayanihan 2, would be realigned for the purpose, but said allocating P3 billion to P5 billion for the purpose would not hurt.

The Senate and the House of Representatives are convening the bicameral conference committee in the coming days to reconcile conflicting provisions of their respective versions of the bill.

He said there would be a “pre-bicam” today to lay the groundwork for the realignment of funds for the vaccine in the bill.

As it is, the Senate version of the measure only has a funding of P140 billion to be divided into various emergency assistance and subsidy programs to sectors badly hit by the COVID-19 crisis.

Senators wanted over P600 billion for Bayanihan 2, but Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III had told senators during the deliberations on the bill that the national coffers could only afford an extra P140 billion this year.

“We must give priority to buying vaccines if we want to go back to the normal we remember,” Zubiri said. “The best way to fight COVID-19 is to have a vaccine.”

Zubiri, a member of the Senate contingent to the bicameral committee, said he would push for a provision that mandates that the vaccine must be sourced from more than one country.

“I hope we get the vaccines from expert and reputable sources,” he said as he urged the Food and Drug Administration to make sure they are safe for Filipinos.

Apprehension

Due to lack of funds, presidential spokesman Harry Roque Jr. yesterday expressed apprehension that families affected by the two-week modified enhanced community quarantine  (MECQ) from Aug. 4 to 18 would not be provided social benefits under the Bayanihan 2.

Roque said he called Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte, who is also deputy speaker, to include “ayuda” (aid) for the affected population, but he did not get a favorable response.

“And although I personally called Congressman Villafuerte to include ayuda for the families affected in Metro Manila and in the nearby provinces, I am not sure if Congress will be able to include it in the Bayanihan 2 package,” Roque said in an interview with CNN Philippines.

The Palace spokesman said he wants to check whether there is a provision in the House version to allow distribution of another tranche of social amelioration for the population under MECQ.

President Duterte placed Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite Laguna and Rizal back to MECQ more than a week ago after medical practitioners sought stricter quarantine enforcement due to the rapid increase in COVID-19 cases.

The House version of the bill proposes a P162-billion package to finance government’s programs in resuscitating the economy and addressing public health concerns amid the pandemic.

“So I still have to check. (The SAP) was not in the Senate version; we (tried) to insert it in the House version, but I don’t know if it’s there and I don’t know if it will be approved by the bicam,” Roque said.

“So we are not certain if Congress… provides for ayuda for Metro Manila and these four provinces, then the situation may change. But as far as the President is concerned, we have used up already the ayuda provided by Congress,” he added.

Under the Constitution, the executive branch cannot “spend public funds without the law appropriating for such money,” according to Roque.

Duterte has yet to decide whether or not he would keep the National Capital Region and the four adjacent provinces under MECQ, although he insinuated last Monday that the country cannot afford to further slow down the economy. – Christina Mendez, Edu Punay, Marc Jayson Cayabyab