By Trade Union Congress of the Philippines
WE CALL on Congress, in its special session, to expand the budgetary response to the very real health and economic threats of Covid-19. Congress needs to add to the original roll-out of P28 billion to:
A. Support large-scale investment simultaneously for the protection of our communities and workplaces;
B. Support the eroded household spending power and enhance sick-pay and quarantine economic support.
C. Ensure a coordinated economic stimulus to incentivize enterprises and strengthen demand-led recovery; and
D. Build national resilience by promoting a strengthened public health care system and ensuring an enhanced social protection system.
To this end, the ALU-TUCP calls on Congress to consider the following:
1. Increase the Budget for Dole Covid-19 Adjustment Measure Program (Camp) for the Formal Sector and the Tupad Public Employment Program for Informal, Casual, Seasonal and Migrant Workers. Both Camp and Tupad should not be one-time payments and should be made available on a monthly basis for the duration of the entire ECQ. We recommend Camp be increased to P10,000 for all mimimum wage earners in NCR, Region 3, Region 4A and Region 7 to approximate their economic needs and expenditures to buy food, pay for utilities, buy masks and alcohol rub, pay rent and purchase vitamins.
2. Budgetary Support for Quarantine Assistance. All employees, both from the public and private sector, as well as formal and informal sectors, should receive from the government through the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole), at least P10,000 in quarantine assistance to ensure the survival of the worker and his or her family during the 14-day quarantine period, thereby encouraging testing and medication.
3. Enact an Economic Stimulus Package. Tax relief, public investment in, financing of and targetted lending support should be provided for micro, small and medium enterprises which constitute 70 percent of our economy as well as targetted productive industries.
This must be accompanied by fiscal and monetary policies such as targetted transfers, interest rate reductions and reserve rate relaxation. This is critical to stimulate the economy and create labor demand.
Further, we support tax holidays, tax incentives, tax breaks and subsidies for enterprises that are providing their workers their 13th-month pay during the ECQ.
Congress can fashion a special support package, combining tax breaks, waivers for social security contributions, as well as extensions of deadlines for mortgage repayments and the deferment without penalties of contributions or taxes due under the ECQ.
(Full letter in www.sunstar.com.ph)