A portion of the measure that seeks to distribute P10,000 cash each to some of the poorest and most vulnerable sectors in certain cities and provinces in the country has been integrated in the proposed Bayanihan to Arise as One Act or Bayanihan 3.
But according to House Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez, the House version will stick to the proposed P2,000 cash aid for each member of a household because the proposed P10,000 cash assistance is a bit big.
Taguig Representative Alan Peter Cayetano, former House Speaker, and his allies have been urging the House of Representatives to convene into a Committee of the Whole or initiate a special session to discuss the P10,000 ‘ayuda’ bill which he filed.
The bill seeks to provide each Filipino family with a one-time P10,000 cash assistance or P1,500 per family member, whichever is higher, to help offset their needs amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have incorporated actually a part of that (bill). Wala na yung P10,000... I think it’s the consensus of the leadership that the P10,000 is big. So we will just stick to the P2,000,” Rodriguez said in an online Ugnayan sa Batasan press briefing.
Another thing Rodriguez said he hoped to be settled by the House leadership are the objections to the supposed beneficiaries of the P2,000 additional cash aid.
“The only objection as to the P2,000 cash aid is that you know they’re giving even to the rich,” the Cagayan de Oro representative said.
“But what I’m saying is that though they constitute a small minority of the percentage of the Philippines, even then they should also even be considered because this is a general assistance for everyone,” he pointed out.
Rodriguez said that even big businesses were forced to close shop during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Kasi maski pa mayaman ka talaga, eh (Because even if you are rich) things have changed. Many businessmen lost their trades because they were forced to. Because many of them were unable to open in a 100 percent operating capacity,” he said.
“So yes, it’s time that we give to everyone,” Rodriguez said.