THE bicameral conference committee reconciling the conflicting provisions of the Bayanihan to Recover as One or Bayanihan 2 bills may not include in the budget the proposed allocation for long-term economic stimulus plans, Senator Grace Poe disclosed on Wednesday, August 19, 2020.
Poe, a member of the bicameral committee, said the Department of Finance (DOF) has been pushing Congress to include the Financial Institutions Strategic Transfer (Fist) and the Acceleration Recovery and Investment Stimulus of the Economy (Arise) in the Bayanihan 2 budget.
“That is actually a point of contention between some members of the House and the Senate. In particular ,it’s being pushed by the DOF to include Fist and Arise in the Bayanihan, but there are too many details,” she said during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum.
The lawmaker added that the Senate suggested tackling the stimulus plans separately.
“The Senate’s suggestion is to not include the Fist and Arise in Bayanihan 2 that it will be a separate bill tackled instead,” Poe said.
“We are already infusing close to P50 billion for the Landbank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines so that they will at least have P50 billion to lend out to MSMEs [micro, small, and medium enterprises] and other companies affected by the pandemic,” she added..
DOF Undersecretary Gil Beltran earlier said the agency can look for the needed revenues but not “this time” since the Arise bill needs a huge budget.
“The (revenue) estimates for 2020 to 2022 have been very conservative. We know that we can look for efficiencies somewhere,” he said.
Poe said the Bayanihan 2 bill may be finalized by the bicameral committee next week.
“We hope to finish this at the latest tomorrow to be ratified next week or as soon as possible,” she said. (SunStar Philippines)