The House proposal to allocate P10 billion for tourism infrastructure spending under the "Bayanihan to Recover as One" bill wasn't a contentious topic at all during the Bicameral Conference Committee hearings on the much-touted COVID-19 response measure.
Thus, said Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte in response to the remarks of Senate Minority Floor Leader Franklin Drilon, who had taken a swipe at the House of Representatives' proposal.
Villafuerte and Drilon were part of the four-day Bicameral Conference Committee meetings wherein the differing provisions of the House and Senate versions of the Bayanihan 2 bill were harmonized.
"The transcripts and records will show that the P10 billion we intended for tourism infrastructure was not contentious at all because we already proposed on day one of the Bicam that if DOT (Department of Tourism) Secretary Bernadette (Romulo-Puyat) does not want the P10 billion for infrastructure, which is badly needed, we will just transfer P4 billion for agri infra and P1 under the tourism convergence of DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways)," Villafuerte, a Deputy Speaker, said.
Puyat chairs the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), the intended destination of the money under the House version of the P165-billion stimulus package.
Recognizing their Senate counterparts as their co-equal in the Bicam meetings, Villafuerte said they let the Upper Chamber contingent determine where the remaining P5 billion out of the original P10 billion amount would go.
"The contentious issue which records will show is the insistence of the senators to earmark a specific amount for the Tourism industry which the DOF (Department of Finance) and the House panel objected to," the Bicol congressman said.
"Because if we start earmarking for a specific industry like tourism then the other sectors like transport, education, construction, manufacturing, cooperatives, and others will also demand earmarking," he argued.
Drilon, in a Teleradyo interview following the conclusion of the Bicam meetings Thursday, somewhat belittled the House's position to set aside funds for infrastructure development, saying it involved "toilets and roads."
"“Ito ang mahabang diskusyon na nangyari dahil ang ibig ng mga kongresista ay ilagay ito sa pagpapatayo ng kubeta at kalsada habang ang Senado naman ay ipinaglaban natin yung position ng DOT na ito ay tulong sa pamamagitan ng soft loans para doon sa mga maliliit na kumpanya na nagsara o nahirapan sa COVID-19 pandemic (A lengthy discussion ensued because the congressmen wanted to allocate the funds for the construction of toilets and roads while the Senate fought the DOT's position to use the funds for soft loans intended for the small companies that have either shut down or are suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic)," the opposition senator said.
"Drilon's claim is a joke. His toilet humor is not funny and his statements should be flushed down the drain," Villafuerte retorted.
"The final version (of Bayanihan 2) will clearly show the (House) stand prevailed. Sourgraping and grandstanding at this point is very unprofessional and childish," he added.
Meanwhile, another member of the House Bicam panel, Bulacan 1st district Rep. Jose Antonio Sy-Alvarado, enumerated the key provisions in the final version of Bayanihan 2 that was introduced by the congressmen.
These are the granting of authority to reprogram and realign funds for the purchase of personal protective equipment (PPEs), establishment of isolation facilities, field hospitals, vaccines/cure, testing, and subsidy for COVID-19 positive patients; authority for local government units (LGUs) to realign local funds for COVID-19 response; and the retroactive application as of February 1 of the P100,000 hazard duty pay for healthworkers and payment of P1 million to the heirs of every health worker who dies a COVID-related death.
Alvarado said it was also the House that sought to direct the use of unutilized portions of the Municipal Development Fund for COVID-19 response; allow the Department of Social Welfare and Development and Department of Labor and Employment, through a memorandum of agreement, to transfer funds to LGUs for assistance programs; allow a 60-day grace period for payment of loans; remove the initial public offering tax; create a national online electronic application system accessible to everyone in each LGU to provide contact tracing capacity; allow the use of unutilized or unreleased balance in special purpose funds for COVID-19 response; exempt locally-made PPEs from import duties; and mandate priority lending for micro, small, and medium enterprises, cooperatives, hospitals, tourism industry, and overseas Filipino workers through government financial institutions.