Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 28) — Two lawmakers from both chambers of Congress have filed a bill extending the validity of the “Bayanihan” law until September 30.
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri filed Senate Bill 1546 which revises Republic Act 11469, known as the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, a law giving President Rodrigo Duterte additional powers until June 24 to manage the COVID-9 pandemic.
Zubiri filed his bill on Tuesday. It provides for a three-month extension of RA 11469, which was passed in March. It allows Duterte to continue to exercise power to realign “items in the national budget and provide emergency support for vulnerable groups and individuals, expand medical resources, and finance emergency initiatives to keep the economy afloat” during this public health crisis, according to the explanatory note.
In the House of Representatives, Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez had filed a similar bill on May 26.
“There are still new COVID-19 positive cases being reported every day and the country is not yet fully operating,” Rodriguez said in the explanatory note of House Bill 6811.
Both houses of Congress have only until June 5 to pass the proposed law as they adjourn sine die on that date.
Duterte’s spokesman Harry Roque said in a television interview on Wednesday that extending the law until September would be “ideal” to sustain the government’s efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19, especially since there is still no vaccine or cure for the deadly virus.
He also cited a proposal of the National Economic and Development Authority to extend Duterte’s special powers until the end of the year to help the battered economy recover from losses placed at about ₱2 trillion.
The Senate assured in April that it will continue to perform checks and balances to ensure that the law is free from any abuses.
More than 15,000 people in the country have been infected by COVID-19 so far. Over 3,500 have recovered but more than 904 have died.
