FORMER senator Alan Peter Cayetano said he does not agree with the proposal of the House of Representatives Committee on Economic Affairs and Committee on Social Services to distribute only P1,000 per person under Bayanihan 3.
Cayetano said the proposed P200-billion budget for Bayanihan 3 is enough to cover the distribution of P10,000 per household.
“Hindi limos ang hinihingi ng ating mga kababayan,” he said. “Tulong, dahil extraordinary ang problema.”
(Our people are not asking for alms. They need help because we are facing an extraordinary problem.)
In February, Cayetano and his allies filed the 10k Ayuda Bill, which proposes to distribute P10,000 to every Filipino family as the country continues to struggle with growing hunger and joblessness in the middle of the ongoing pandemic.
The proposed measure was consolidated into Bayanihan 3, but unfortunately, the provision of P10,000 for every family was not adopted.
Cayetano urged the public to push lawmakers to support the proposal to distribute P10,000 in cash aid to every Filipino family.
“Ligawan po natin ang ating mga kongresista (Let us keep on trying to convince our congressmen),” he said, adding that concerned citizens should write to their congressmen and local officials to endorse the 10k Ayuda Bill.
Citing the availability of funds, Cayetano said he is confident President Rodrigo Duterte will not veto the 10k Ayuda Bill if Congress passes it.
“Nandun ako sa Gabinete nung ginawa yung Free Education (Act). Iyon din ang sinabi. Pero nung nakita ng Pangulo na may pera, nakita niyang maganda ang programa, laban,” he said.
(I was in the Cabinet when the Free Education Act was being crafted. They also said the same thing. When the President found available funds, when he realized that the program would be helpful, he signed into law.)