The proposed "Bayan Bangon Muli" or BBM bill is worth backing, as far as Quezon City 5th district Rep. Alfred Vargas is concerned.
In a recently-filed resolution, three-term congressman Vargas urged incoming members of the 19th Congress to support the BBM measure, which is an economic stimulus and mutual aid package being pursued by top speakership contender, Leyte 1st district Rep. Martin Romualdez.
Vargas said in his resolution that such support is an expression of “genuine unity in addressing the Covid-19 pandemic, similar to advocacy for whole-of-nation, whole-of-government, and even whole-of-society approaches to rebuilding the country’s economy and the lives of all our fellow Filipinos".
The letters BBM make up the initials of presumptive president Bongbong Marcos.
The outgoing Quezon City solon said the new president will begin his term “at a time when the country is gradually recovering from the social and economic devastation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic".
Vargas said Congress has worked hand-in-hand with the Duterte administration to address the pandemic and its economic and social impact through Republic Act (RA) No. 11469 or the “Bayanihan to Heal as One Act” and RA No. 11494 or the “Bayanihan to Recover as One Act".
“These programs, projects, and activities that continue to assist and uplift our countrymen requires further support as the pandemic is not over and tens of millions still are reeling from its impact,” he noted.
The BBM measure is being presented as the spiritual successor of sorts to the Bayanihan laws.
According to Vargas, the incoming Marcos administration must get the needed budgetary support to continue providing aid for sectors affected by the pandemic.
“It is crucial that we extend to the incoming administration the widest range of budgetary tools to address the continuing effects of the pandemic on affected sectors and bring the economy back on its feet,” he said.
Vargas, chairman of the House Committee on Social Services, further said that the poor and other vulnerable sectors of society should continue to receive expanded social protection and other forms of government assistance.