Wednesday, February 8, 2023
manilastandard.net
ADVERTISEMENT
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Others
    • Pets
    • Pop.Life
      • Newsmakers
      • Hangouts
      • A-Pop
      • Post Its
      • Performances
      • Malls & Bazaars
      • Hobbies & Collections
    • Technology
      • Gadgets
      • Computers
      • Business
      • Tech Plus
    • MS ON THE ROAD
      • Sedan
      • SUV
      • Truck
      • Bike
      • Accessories
      • Motoring Plus
      • Commuter’s Corner
    • Home & Design
      • Residential
      • Commercial
      • Construction
      • Interior
    • Spotlight
    • Gallery
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Events
      • Seminars
      • Exhibits
      • Community
    • Biyahero
      • Travel Features
      • Travel Reels
      • Travel Logs
  • Advertise with Us
No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Others
    • Pets
    • Pop.Life
      • Newsmakers
      • Hangouts
      • A-Pop
      • Post Its
      • Performances
      • Malls & Bazaars
      • Hobbies & Collections
    • Technology
      • Gadgets
      • Computers
      • Business
      • Tech Plus
    • MS ON THE ROAD
      • Sedan
      • SUV
      • Truck
      • Bike
      • Accessories
      • Motoring Plus
      • Commuter’s Corner
    • Home & Design
      • Residential
      • Commercial
      • Construction
      • Interior
    • Spotlight
    • Gallery
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Events
      • Seminars
      • Exhibits
      • Community
    • Biyahero
      • Travel Features
      • Travel Reels
      • Travel Logs
  • Advertise with Us
No Result
View All Result
manilastandard.net
No Result
View All Result
Home News National

Solon tells DOT to liquidate P34-b Bayanihan 2 budget

Maricel CruzbyMaricel Cruz
November 3, 2022, 11:00 pm
in National, News
Reading Time: 3 mins read
A A
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Email

Camarines Sur Rep.  Luis Raymund Villafuerte on Thursday demanded from the Department of Tourism an accounting of the agency’s disbursements under the P34-billion bailout package of tourism-oriented businesses it was given under the Bayanihan 2 law or  Republic Act 11519.

“Amid the assertion then by DOT officials and certain industry players that tourism infrastructure was not a priority at the time, the P10-billion intended by the House for TIEZA ended up being allotted to government financial institutions (GFIs) for bailing out COVID-affected businesses, including those in the tourism industry,” according to Villafuerte, the lead author in the House of both Bayanihan 2 and the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act (RA 11494 or Bayanihan 1).

Such relief funds in 2021 for pandemic-hit enterprises and businesspersons included a P10-billion outlay that the House of Representatives had originally allotted for infrastructure projects of the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) in its version of the Bayanihan 2 bill.

But which, following the subsequent lobbying in the Senate by the DOT and certain industry players, Villafuerte said was scrapped in the final congressional bill submitted to Malacañang.

Villafuerte, deputy speaker for finance when the Bayanihan 1 and 2 laws were passed, said; “Given President Marcos’ apt push for tourism infrastructure,  it seems appropriate for the DOT to tell us how much of the P34.72-billion bailout fund for COVID-hit businesses under Bayanihan 2 had actually been released to rescue resort operators and other financially distressed entrepreneurs and establishments in the tourism industry.”

ADVERTISEMENT

“We also want to know from the DOT how and where the government  intends to spend the allocation for tourism infrastructure under the  ‘Build Better More’ infrastructure development program  of President Marcos, who has rightly put a premium on tourism infrastructure spending in order to attract more tourists to the Philippines,” he added.

Villafuerte also said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) plans to spend P133 billion for network development  to build new roads and widen existing ones, of which P15.7 billion will reportedly be spent on links to tourism destinations.

Such P15.7-billion allotment will supposedly be used by the government to improve over 16 kilometers (km) of roads leading to airports, 27.5 km leading to seaports, and 308 km leading to tourist destinations.

Villafuerte recalled that the House, under then-Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, endorsed in 2020 an allocation of P10 billion from the Bayanihan 2 stimulus package for Covid-19 response for tourism infrastructure to be built by TIEZA.

He explained that this proposed P10-billion infrastructure budget for TIEZA was included in the House-approved version of Bayanihan 2 on the legislators’ belief that “more and better tourism infrastructure projects needed to be built in 2021 and onwards for the government to rev up this COVID-battered sector anew as a boom industry and major dollar-earner once the pandemic is over.”

However, he said, this infrastructure budget “failed to see the light of day,” as then-DOT Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat, with the support of certain legislators and big industry players, had lobbied during the bicameral deliberations on Bayanihan 2 for the realignment of the P10-billion infrastructure outlay intended for   TIEZA to a bailout fund for tourism-related businesses hurt severely by the government’s stringent lockdowns or mobility restrictions nationwide that barred foreigners and locals alike from going to tourist destinations.

Under Section 10 of the Bayanihan 2 law,   a total of P39.472 billion was allocated for capital infusion to GFIs, of which P18.47 billion went to the Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) and another P6 billion to the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) for their “wholesale banking and equity infusion for low-interest loans to persons and entities engaged in COVID-affected industries.”

Also, P10 billion was set aside in Bayanihan 2 as additional funding for the Covid-19 Assistance to Restart Enterprises (CARES) microfinancing project and other lending programs of the Small Business Corp. (SBCorp)—a GFI attached to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)—“as well as interest subsidies to MSMEs (micro, small and medium-sized enterprises), cooperatives, hospitals, tourism industry and OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) affected by the pandemic.” Maricel V. Cruz

Tags: Bayanihan 2 lawDepartment of TourismDOTRep.  Luis Raymund Villafuerte
ADVERTISEMENT
Maricel Cruz

Maricel Cruz

Related Posts

PH mission off to Turkey, Syria

byVince Lopezand2 others
February 8, 2023, 1:40 am
0
8
PBBM to Pinoys: Pay correct taxes

Joins other nations in rescue, medical efforts as death toll crosses 5,000 The Philippines is joining other nations in offering...

Read more

It could happen here, too—Phivolcs

byManila Standard
February 8, 2023, 1:30 am
0
8
Magnitude 5.3 earthquake jolts Batangas

As a magnitude 7.8 earthquake recently hit Turkey and Syria, the head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology...

Read more

WHO warns up to 23m people could be affected by 7.8 tremor

byAFP
February 8, 2023, 1:20 am
0
8
Travel ban on 8 nations up; WHO warns of strain spread

Geneva—Up to 23 million people could be affected by the massive earthquake that has killed thousands in Turkey and Syria,...

Read more

Speaker slams agri traders to ‘moderate greed’

byMaricel Cruz
February 8, 2023, 1:10 am
0
8
Football legend Pele dies at 82, now eternal icon

Speaker Martin Romualdez on Tuesday urged “profit-hungry traders” manipulating or hoarding the supply and prices of agricultural products, particularly onions...

Read more

Jan. inflation hit 14-year high 8.7% as prices of basic needs soar

byJulito G. Radaand4 others
February 8, 2023, 1:00 am
0
8
ADB cuts ‘developing Asia’ growth forecast as China lockdowns bite

Inflation rose to its highest level in more than 14 years and showed no sign of easing in January, rising...

Read more

Labor group: Rising prices erode daily wage by P88

byVito Barcelo
February 8, 2023, 12:50 am
0
8
Wages up in Calabarzon, Davao

At least P88 has been eroded from the P570 minimum wage in Metro Manila due to the continuous rise in...

Read more

Print Edition

View More

Recent Posts

  • PCSO Releases ₱96.9M Worth of Funding Support to PAF, CHED and PSC
  • European Union delegates visit Clark, Subic
  • Sneakers for Makati : AB4.0
  • PH mission off to Turkey, Syria
  • It could happen here, too—Phivolcs
  • WHO warns up to 23m people could be affected by 7.8 tremor
  • Speaker slams agri traders to ‘moderate greed’
  • Jan. inflation hit 14-year high 8.7% as prices of basic needs soar

Advertisement

Latest News

WHO warns up to 23m people could be affected by 7.8 tremor

byAFP
February 8, 2023, 1:20 am
0
8
Travel ban on 8 nations up; WHO warns of strain spread

Geneva—Up to 23 million people could be affected by the massive earthquake that has killed thousands in Turkey and Syria,...

Read more

Speaker slams agri traders to ‘moderate greed’

byMaricel Cruz
February 8, 2023, 1:10 am
0
8
Football legend Pele dies at 82, now eternal icon

Speaker Martin Romualdez on Tuesday urged “profit-hungry traders” manipulating or hoarding the supply and prices of agricultural products, particularly onions...

Read more

Jan. inflation hit 14-year high 8.7% as prices of basic needs soar

byJulito G. Radaand4 others
February 8, 2023, 1:00 am
0
8
ADB cuts ‘developing Asia’ growth forecast as China lockdowns bite

Inflation rose to its highest level in more than 14 years and showed no sign of easing in January, rising...

Read more

Labor group: Rising prices erode daily wage by P88

byVito Barcelo
February 8, 2023, 12:50 am
0
8
Wages up in Calabarzon, Davao

At least P88 has been eroded from the P570 minimum wage in Metro Manila due to the continuous rise in...

Read more

Omicron strain XBB1.5 here

byWillie Casas
February 8, 2023, 12:40 am
0
8
PH logs 2 Omicron cases

The Philippines has confirmed its first case of the coronavirus omicron subvariant XBB.1.5, which experts said causes the most transmissible...

Read more

Advertisement

ADVERTISEMENT
Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube

ABOUT US

Manila Standard

Manila Standard website (manilastandard.net), launched in August 2002, extends the newspaper’s reach beyond its traditional readers and makes its brand of Philippine news and opinion available to a much wider and geographically diverse readership here and overseas.

Digital Edition

In tone and content, the online edition mirrors the editorial thrust of the newspaper. While hewing to the traditional precepts of fairness and objectivity, MS believes the news of the day need not be staid, overly long or dry. Stories are succinct, readable and written in a lively style that has become a hallmark of the newspaper.

Download – Today’s Paper

Search

No Result
View All Result

6th Floor Universal Re Bldg., 106 Paseo De Roxas cor. Perea Street, Legaspi Village, 1226 Makati City Philippines

Trunklines: 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558

© 2021 Manila Standard - Designed and Developed by Neitiviti Studios.

No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Pop.Life
    • Newsmakers
    • Hangouts
    • A-Pop
    • Post Its
    • Performances
    • Malls & Bazaars
    • Hobbies & Collections
  • Technology
    • Gadgets
    • Computers
    • Business
    • Tech Plus
  • MS ON THE ROAD
    • Sedan
    • SUV
    • Truck
    • Bike
    • Accessories
    • Motoring Plus
    • Commuter’s Corner
  • Home & Design
    • Residential
    • Commercial
    • Construction
    • Interior
  • Spotlight
  • Gallery
    • Photos
    • Videos
  • Events
    • Seminars
    • Exhibits
    • Community
  • Biyahero
    • Travel Features
    • Travel Reels
    • Travel Logs
  • Pets
  • Advertise with Us

© 2021 Manila Standard - Designed and Developed by Neitiviti Studios.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Install Manila Standard Web App

Install App