Deputy Speaker and Antique Rep. Loren Legarda has sought the grant of a P30-billion ‘bridge fund’ for a stimulus package to revive the country’s restaurant industry that has been severely pummeled by the COVID-19 economic crisis.

Legarda has committed to pursue the measure if she succeeds in getting a Senate seat since legislative time constraints prevent its passage in the current Congress.

Congress is left with only ten session days by the time it resumes regular sessions on Monday, Jan. 17. Adjournment to give way to the campaign period will start February 4.

Legarda filed the Restaurant Industry Revival Act under House Bill No. 7610 that will also seek to provide tax incentives and rent-extension payments to restaurants in distress, on top of the P30-billion bridge fund. The legislative proposal will allow the industry to sustain operations and stay afloat until the pandemic is over.

“The food service industry is in a dire crisis. The changes in regulations and restrictions due to the outbreak have severely affected the global and domestic economies. One of the sectors badly affected is the restaurant industry. This pandemic has changed the industry’s landscape, affecting its business operations, retail to customers, and logistic services,” Legarda said.

Food service sales in the country dropped 44 percent in 2020 amid the challenging business environment characterized by lockdowns and quarantine restrictions, the lawmaker added.

She said it has been a challenge for restaurant owners and operators to sustain their businesses, sacrificing sales revenue, balancing their remaining cash flows to cover rental, taxes, and other fees while ensuring that they can still provide daily wages to their employees.

Against this backdrop, the restaurant industry needs assistance so they can save their business and the workers who depend on them.

"We have to provide economic measures to the restaurant industry to ensure that they are able to provide jobs, prevent their closure through the creation of payment extensions and bridge funding, assist them in the transition to a better normal that would reduce food wastage, sustain biodiverse agriculture and also ensure that the employees are protected as they continue with their operations, " Legarda said.

According to industry data, there are 84,503 food outlets operating in the country with most if not all, affected by the challenging business environment, aggravated by the different quarantine restrictions and alert levels since March 2020.

At present, parts of the country have been placed under Alert Level 3, where businesses are only allowed to operate at 30 percent indoor capacity and 50 percent outdoor capacity amid the surge in COVID-19 cases.