Duterte granted special COVID-19 powers
Published Mar 24, 2020 12:00 am
By Hannah Torregoza and Charissa Atienza
Congress approved early Tuesday morning a measure granting President Duterte special powers to address the fast-spreading coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that has infected over 500 persons in the country.
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte (KING RODRIGUEZ/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO/FILE PHOTO/MANILA BULLETIN)
Voting 12-0, senators approved Senate Bill No. 1418 – the “Bayanihan to Heal as One Act of 2020” – during a special session that started Monday and ended in the wee hours of Tuesday.
Senate Bill No. 1418, a substitute for Senate Bill No. 1413, was sponsored by Senator Pia Cayetano, vice chair of the Senate finance committee. The measure is a substitution of Senate Bill No. 1413, earlier filed by Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Cayetano.
The House of Representatives immediately adopted the Senate version of the “Bayanihan to Heal as One Act of 2020” before adjourning at 3:24 a.m.
With the House's adoption of the Senate version, there is no longer any need to call a bicameral conference committee as there is no longer anything to reconcile. The bill is expected to be forwarded immediately to Malacañang for President Duterte's signature.
House Majority Leader and Leyte 1st District Rep. Martin Romualdez moved “to adopt Senate Bill No. 1418 as an amendment to House Bill No. 6616, which congressmen had passed before Monday midnight.
“We have been informed that House Bill 6616 is in concurrence with the provisions of Senate Bill 1418. In accordance with the rules, I move to adopt Senate Bill 1418 as an amendment to HB 6616,” Romualdez told the plenary.
State of emergency
Senate Bill 1418 also places the whole country under a state of national emergency. It also gives the President special powers for three months, “unless extended by Congress.”
Both SB 1418 and HB 6616 authorize President Duterte to “reprogram, reallocate, and realign from savings on other items of appropriations in the Fiscal Year 2020 GAA in the Executive Department, as may be necessary and beneficial to fund measures to address and respond to the COVID-19 emergency, including social amelioration for affected communities, and the recovery and the recovery of areas, sectors, and industries severely affected.”
“All amounts so reprogrammed, reallocated or realigned shall be deemed automatically appropriated for such measures to address the COVID-19 situation,” the bills provide.
It also seeks to allocate cash, funds, and investments held by any government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) or any national government agency as necessary to address the health crisis.
Assistance for poor
Cayetano, in her sponsorship speech, said the measure aims to secure the welfare of the 24.6 million Filipino families, particularly the 18 million families who are poor or from the informal sector who were directly affected by the government’s enhanced community quarantine.
The immediate goal of the bill, Cayetano said, is to provide each of these 18 million families with P5,000 to P8,000 a month for the next two months from various national government and local government programs whether in cash or kind.
The exact amount would be determined in proportion to the minimum wage of their respective region.
Among the 18 million families are the 4.4-million household beneficiaries of the government's 4Ps (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program) or conditional cash transfer program.
Cayetano had earlier said the emergency subsidy would be added to the average P2,150 they receive per month.
“So we will just top-up their subsidies to reach the proposed P5,000 to P8,000 depending on their region.
The balance of 13.5 million non-CCT households will get P5,000 to P8,000 in total also from various national and local government programs, she said.
Cayetano said the Emergency Subsidy Program will require a total of P97.4 billion per month, or about P200 billion for two months.
Financial aid for health workers
Among the amendments the Senate included in the measure is helping health workers who have been and would be infected with COVID-19 and giving financial assistance to health workers who died of the disease.
SB 1418 grants P1 million compensation to public and private health workers, who may die while fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. This shall have retroactive application from Feb. 1, 2020, the Senate bill provides.
Under the Senate version of the bill, the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) will shoulder the medical expenses of both public and private health workers “in case of exposure to COVID-19 or any other work-related injury or disease during the duration of the emergency.”
Under the measure, Congress will keep the 2020 spending program of P4.1-trillion intact and give the President the power, as needed, to move funds within the GAA from non-essential to essential items that are required for fighting COVID-19.”
The Senate version of the COVID aid bill primarily seeks to utilize the P175 billion available cash and its equivalent in various GOCC accounts and the P100-billion from various national government agencies’ accounts.
Compensation for private facilities
The bill, likewise, empowers the President to temporarily direct the operations of “privately owned hospitals, medical and health facilities including passenger vessels and other establishments,” when the public interest so requires.
According to the bill, these said facilities may be used as temporary housing for health workers, as quarantine areas, or aid distribution locations. Public transportation facilities may also be used to ferry health, emergency, and frontline personnel.
Also under the bill, the management and operation of the private enterprise shall be retained by the owners of the enterprise, who shall render a full accounting to the President or his duly authorized representative.
The measure provides that after the situation has stabilized or at the soonest time practicable, reasonable compensation for any additional damage or costs incurred by the owner of the subject property solely on account of complying with the directive shall be given.
“Finally, that if the foregoing enterprises unjustifiably refuse or signified that they are no longer capable of operating their enterprises for the purpose stated herein, the President may take over their operations subject to the limits and safeguards enshrined in the Constitution,” according to the Senate and House bills.
Almost all of the provisions in SB 1418 can be found in HB 6616, except the “COVID-19 special risk allowance” for health workers, the P100,000 compensation to be granted to public and private health workers who may contract severe COVID-19 infection while in the line of duty.
The Senate version also provides that the Chief Executive can lift 30 percent cap on the amount appropriated for the quick response fund, as provided for in Republic Act No. 10121, the "Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010,” during the existence of the state of national emergency due to COVID-19.
SB 1418 and HB 6616 also provide that any unutilized or unreleased balance in a special purpose fund, as of the date of declaration of state of emergency, shall be considered to have their purpose abandoned for the duration of the period.
“All such unspent, unutilized, or unreleased money or funds sourced from collections or receipts, including future collections and receipts, shall be utilized and are hereby appropriated for such measures to address the COVID-19 situation and accomplish the declared national policy herein,” the bills said.
Both bills also empower President Duterte to direct the discontinuance of appropriated programs, projects or activities (P/A/P) of any agency of the Executive Department, including GOCCs in the FYs 2019 and 2020 General Appropriations Act (GAA), whether released or unreleased allotments for which remain obligated.
They provide that the savings generated therefrom will be used to “augment the allocation for any item for support operations, response measures, which are necessary, or beneficial in order to address the COVID-19 emergency.”
Priority acts
The following items in the budget shall be prioritized for augmentation:
Under the Department of Health – operational budgets of government hospitals, primarily those identified for treatment of COVID-19; prevention and control of other infectious diseases; emergency preparedness and response;
Under the University of the Philippines – the operational budget of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH);
The National Disaster Risk Reduction Fund or Calamity Fund; Program of the Department of Labor and Employment, such as but not limited to Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers and COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP);
Under the Department of Trade and Industry – Livelihood Seeding Program and Negosyo Serbisyo sa Barangay;
Under the Department of Agriculture – Rice Farmers Financial Assistance Program;
Under various programs of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, such as but not limited to Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS), distribution of food and non-food items, and livelihood assistance grants;
Under Allocations to the Local Government Units; and
Quick Response Funds lodged in the various relevant departments, such as but not limited to the DOH and DSWD.
The discontinued program activity or project may be revived at any time after the national emergency has ceased, the House and Senate bill provide.
Other powers granted
The bills also empower the Chief Executive to expedite and streamline the accreditation of testing kits and facilitate prompt testing by public and designated private institutions of PUIs and PUMs and the compulsory isolation and treatment of patients.
Under SB 1418 and HB 6616, President Duterte is also authorized to undertake the procurement of the following goods – which may include personal protective equipment such as gloves, gowns, masks, goggles, face shields; surgical equipment and supplies; laboratory equipment; medical supplies; common medicines; and testing kits “as the need arises, in the most expeditious manner, as exemptions from the provisions of Republic Act No. 9184 or the "Government Procurement Reform Act" and other relevant laws.
Also exempted from the procurement laws are the goods and services for social amelioration measures in favor of affected communities; the lease of real property or venue for use to house health workers or serve as quarantine centers, medical relief and aid distribution locations, or temporary medical facilities; establishment, construction, and operation of temporary medical facilities; utilities, telecommunications, and other critical services in relation to operation of quarantine centers, medical relief and aid distribution centers and temporary medical facilities; and ancillary services.
Both the House and Senate versions of the bill also seek to liberalize the grant of incentives for the manufacture or importation of critical or needed equipment or supplies, including healthcare equipment and supplies.
Under the bills, the importation of these equipment and supplies shall be exempt from import duties, taxes and other fees.
The bills also authorize the President to require businesses to prioritize and accept contracts for materials and services necessary to promote the declared national policy.
HB 6616 and SB 1418 also empowers the President to continue to adopt measures to protect the people from hoarding, profiteering, injurious speculations, manipulation of prices, product deceptions, and cartels, monopolies or other combinations in restraint of trade, or other pernicious practices affecting the supply, distribution and movement of food, clothing, medicine and medical supplies, fuel, fertilizers, chemicals, building materials, implements, machinery equipment and spare parts required in agriculture, industry and other essential services, and other articles of prime necessity, whether imported or locally produced or manufactured.
Under the bills, the President may engage the services of the Philippine Red Cross as the primary humanitarian agency that is auxiliary to the government in giving aid to the people, subject to reimbursement, in the distribution of goods and services incidental in the fight against COVID-19.
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte (KING RODRIGUEZ/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO/FILE PHOTO/MANILA BULLETIN)
Voting 12-0, senators approved Senate Bill No. 1418 – the “Bayanihan to Heal as One Act of 2020” – during a special session that started Monday and ended in the wee hours of Tuesday.
Senate Bill No. 1418, a substitute for Senate Bill No. 1413, was sponsored by Senator Pia Cayetano, vice chair of the Senate finance committee. The measure is a substitution of Senate Bill No. 1413, earlier filed by Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Cayetano.
The House of Representatives immediately adopted the Senate version of the “Bayanihan to Heal as One Act of 2020” before adjourning at 3:24 a.m.
With the House's adoption of the Senate version, there is no longer any need to call a bicameral conference committee as there is no longer anything to reconcile. The bill is expected to be forwarded immediately to Malacañang for President Duterte's signature.
House Majority Leader and Leyte 1st District Rep. Martin Romualdez moved “to adopt Senate Bill No. 1418 as an amendment to House Bill No. 6616, which congressmen had passed before Monday midnight.
“We have been informed that House Bill 6616 is in concurrence with the provisions of Senate Bill 1418. In accordance with the rules, I move to adopt Senate Bill 1418 as an amendment to HB 6616,” Romualdez told the plenary.
State of emergency
Senate Bill 1418 also places the whole country under a state of national emergency. It also gives the President special powers for three months, “unless extended by Congress.”
Both SB 1418 and HB 6616 authorize President Duterte to “reprogram, reallocate, and realign from savings on other items of appropriations in the Fiscal Year 2020 GAA in the Executive Department, as may be necessary and beneficial to fund measures to address and respond to the COVID-19 emergency, including social amelioration for affected communities, and the recovery and the recovery of areas, sectors, and industries severely affected.”
“All amounts so reprogrammed, reallocated or realigned shall be deemed automatically appropriated for such measures to address the COVID-19 situation,” the bills provide.
It also seeks to allocate cash, funds, and investments held by any government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) or any national government agency as necessary to address the health crisis.
Assistance for poor
Cayetano, in her sponsorship speech, said the measure aims to secure the welfare of the 24.6 million Filipino families, particularly the 18 million families who are poor or from the informal sector who were directly affected by the government’s enhanced community quarantine.
The immediate goal of the bill, Cayetano said, is to provide each of these 18 million families with P5,000 to P8,000 a month for the next two months from various national government and local government programs whether in cash or kind.
The exact amount would be determined in proportion to the minimum wage of their respective region.
Among the 18 million families are the 4.4-million household beneficiaries of the government's 4Ps (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program) or conditional cash transfer program.
Cayetano had earlier said the emergency subsidy would be added to the average P2,150 they receive per month.
“So we will just top-up their subsidies to reach the proposed P5,000 to P8,000 depending on their region.
The balance of 13.5 million non-CCT households will get P5,000 to P8,000 in total also from various national and local government programs, she said.
Cayetano said the Emergency Subsidy Program will require a total of P97.4 billion per month, or about P200 billion for two months.
Financial aid for health workers
Among the amendments the Senate included in the measure is helping health workers who have been and would be infected with COVID-19 and giving financial assistance to health workers who died of the disease.
SB 1418 grants P1 million compensation to public and private health workers, who may die while fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. This shall have retroactive application from Feb. 1, 2020, the Senate bill provides.
Under the Senate version of the bill, the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) will shoulder the medical expenses of both public and private health workers “in case of exposure to COVID-19 or any other work-related injury or disease during the duration of the emergency.”
Under the measure, Congress will keep the 2020 spending program of P4.1-trillion intact and give the President the power, as needed, to move funds within the GAA from non-essential to essential items that are required for fighting COVID-19.”
The Senate version of the COVID aid bill primarily seeks to utilize the P175 billion available cash and its equivalent in various GOCC accounts and the P100-billion from various national government agencies’ accounts.
Compensation for private facilities
The bill, likewise, empowers the President to temporarily direct the operations of “privately owned hospitals, medical and health facilities including passenger vessels and other establishments,” when the public interest so requires.
According to the bill, these said facilities may be used as temporary housing for health workers, as quarantine areas, or aid distribution locations. Public transportation facilities may also be used to ferry health, emergency, and frontline personnel.
Also under the bill, the management and operation of the private enterprise shall be retained by the owners of the enterprise, who shall render a full accounting to the President or his duly authorized representative.
The measure provides that after the situation has stabilized or at the soonest time practicable, reasonable compensation for any additional damage or costs incurred by the owner of the subject property solely on account of complying with the directive shall be given.
“Finally, that if the foregoing enterprises unjustifiably refuse or signified that they are no longer capable of operating their enterprises for the purpose stated herein, the President may take over their operations subject to the limits and safeguards enshrined in the Constitution,” according to the Senate and House bills.
Almost all of the provisions in SB 1418 can be found in HB 6616, except the “COVID-19 special risk allowance” for health workers, the P100,000 compensation to be granted to public and private health workers who may contract severe COVID-19 infection while in the line of duty.
The Senate version also provides that the Chief Executive can lift 30 percent cap on the amount appropriated for the quick response fund, as provided for in Republic Act No. 10121, the "Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010,” during the existence of the state of national emergency due to COVID-19.
SB 1418 and HB 6616 also provide that any unutilized or unreleased balance in a special purpose fund, as of the date of declaration of state of emergency, shall be considered to have their purpose abandoned for the duration of the period.
“All such unspent, unutilized, or unreleased money or funds sourced from collections or receipts, including future collections and receipts, shall be utilized and are hereby appropriated for such measures to address the COVID-19 situation and accomplish the declared national policy herein,” the bills said.
Both bills also empower President Duterte to direct the discontinuance of appropriated programs, projects or activities (P/A/P) of any agency of the Executive Department, including GOCCs in the FYs 2019 and 2020 General Appropriations Act (GAA), whether released or unreleased allotments for which remain obligated.
They provide that the savings generated therefrom will be used to “augment the allocation for any item for support operations, response measures, which are necessary, or beneficial in order to address the COVID-19 emergency.”
Priority acts
The following items in the budget shall be prioritized for augmentation:
Under the Department of Health – operational budgets of government hospitals, primarily those identified for treatment of COVID-19; prevention and control of other infectious diseases; emergency preparedness and response;
Under the University of the Philippines – the operational budget of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH);
The National Disaster Risk Reduction Fund or Calamity Fund; Program of the Department of Labor and Employment, such as but not limited to Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers and COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP);
Under the Department of Trade and Industry – Livelihood Seeding Program and Negosyo Serbisyo sa Barangay;
Under the Department of Agriculture – Rice Farmers Financial Assistance Program;
Under various programs of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, such as but not limited to Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS), distribution of food and non-food items, and livelihood assistance grants;
Under Allocations to the Local Government Units; and
Quick Response Funds lodged in the various relevant departments, such as but not limited to the DOH and DSWD.
The discontinued program activity or project may be revived at any time after the national emergency has ceased, the House and Senate bill provide.
Other powers granted
The bills also empower the Chief Executive to expedite and streamline the accreditation of testing kits and facilitate prompt testing by public and designated private institutions of PUIs and PUMs and the compulsory isolation and treatment of patients.
Under SB 1418 and HB 6616, President Duterte is also authorized to undertake the procurement of the following goods – which may include personal protective equipment such as gloves, gowns, masks, goggles, face shields; surgical equipment and supplies; laboratory equipment; medical supplies; common medicines; and testing kits “as the need arises, in the most expeditious manner, as exemptions from the provisions of Republic Act No. 9184 or the "Government Procurement Reform Act" and other relevant laws.
Also exempted from the procurement laws are the goods and services for social amelioration measures in favor of affected communities; the lease of real property or venue for use to house health workers or serve as quarantine centers, medical relief and aid distribution locations, or temporary medical facilities; establishment, construction, and operation of temporary medical facilities; utilities, telecommunications, and other critical services in relation to operation of quarantine centers, medical relief and aid distribution centers and temporary medical facilities; and ancillary services.
Both the House and Senate versions of the bill also seek to liberalize the grant of incentives for the manufacture or importation of critical or needed equipment or supplies, including healthcare equipment and supplies.
Under the bills, the importation of these equipment and supplies shall be exempt from import duties, taxes and other fees.
The bills also authorize the President to require businesses to prioritize and accept contracts for materials and services necessary to promote the declared national policy.
HB 6616 and SB 1418 also empowers the President to continue to adopt measures to protect the people from hoarding, profiteering, injurious speculations, manipulation of prices, product deceptions, and cartels, monopolies or other combinations in restraint of trade, or other pernicious practices affecting the supply, distribution and movement of food, clothing, medicine and medical supplies, fuel, fertilizers, chemicals, building materials, implements, machinery equipment and spare parts required in agriculture, industry and other essential services, and other articles of prime necessity, whether imported or locally produced or manufactured.
Under the bills, the President may engage the services of the Philippine Red Cross as the primary humanitarian agency that is auxiliary to the government in giving aid to the people, subject to reimbursement, in the distribution of goods and services incidental in the fight against COVID-19.