Senatorial candidate and Taguig-Pateros Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano on Tuesday said he would prioritize the passage of a “Relief, Reform, Recovery” bill to offer concrete solutions to address the recent fuel price hike if he wins a Senate seat in the May polls.
In an interview, Cayetano said the relief program aims to distribute direct financial incentives and subsidies to Filipino families, especially those coming from the affected sectors.
“Example po ng relief [program] ‘yung sampung libong ayuda. Nagawa na natin iyan noong Bayanihan 1, bagkus two gives, PHP5,000. […] Ngayon, ang kailangan lang natin, 5 percent savings [ng lahat ng ahensiya ng gobyerno] na idedeklara lang ng Malacañang, may PHP250 billion ka na (One example of a relief program is the PHP10,000 assistance. We were able to implement it during Bayanihan 1, where money was distributed in two segments of PHP5,000 each. Now, each government agency just needs to provide 5 percent of their savings through a directive from the Malacañang for us to allocate PHP250 billion in aid),” he said.
He said the reform program seeks to implement permanent changes to the current system being implemented by the government, particularly establishing a comprehensive aid system to help Filipinos during crises.
Cayetano noted that the government still does not have a list of fuel subsidy grantees considering that the transportation sector has always been a recipient of pandemic aid.
“Two years na tayong may pandemic, bakit hindi pa gumawa ng master list ang DOTr? (We’re already two years into the pandemic, so why has the Department of Transportation not made a master list for aid recipients yet?),” he said.
Cayetano said he is eyeing reforms to the government processes in distributing aid so that affected sectors — transportation, hospitals, and quarantine hotels, among others — would receive it directly and more efficiently.
As for the recovery aspect, Cayetano said economic recovery will be facilitated by programs for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as well as agriculture.
He said the government can give interest-free or low-interest loans to MSMEs and farmers, with the payables depending on the duration and principal amount.
“More than 50 percent ng mga trabaho sa Pilipinas nanggagaling sa agriculture at sa micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (More than 50 percent of jobs in the country come from agriculture and micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises),” he said.
Source: Philippines News Agency