(Eagle News)–The Senate and the House of Representatives have approved granting President Rodrigo Duterte the “necessary” and “proper” powers to address the coronavirus disease emergency.
Voting 12-0, senators passed the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act early Tuesday, also declaring a national emergency over COVID-19 in the country.
The approved Senate measure, Senate Bill 1418, was the amended version of Senate Bill no. 1413 authored by Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III and Senator Pia Cayetano, which included financial aid to health workers who died of COVID-19.
In the House of Representatives, the counterpart version sponsored by Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte received 284 affirmative votes, 9 negative votes, and no abstentions in the House’s first-ever online voting session.
The measures authorize President Rodrigo Duterte to realign items in the 2020 national budget to address the COVID-19 emergency, including through social amelioration programs.
He is also given the authority to direct the operation of public transportation in order to ferry health, emergency, and frontline personnel, and to direct the operation of any privately-owned hospitals, medical and health facilities, including passenger vessels, as well as other establishments to be used as temporary housing units for health workers and quarantine facilities.
They can also be used as medical relief and aid distribution locations.
The measure also provides for an emergency subsidy amounting to P5,000 to P8,000 each for two months for 18 million low-income households.
In the House version, the provision that temporarily allowed President Duterte to take over privately owned public utilities and businesses was removed.
President Duterte, for his part, will have to submit a report of all acts performed in connection with the crisis to Congress, which shall exercise its oversight function.
So far, the country has over 400 COVID-19 cases.
The President has imposed an enhanced community quarantine in Luzon to arrest the spread of COVID-19.
