RESOLUTION DIRECTING THE APPROPRIATE HOUSE COMMITTEE/S TO CONDUCT AN INQUIRY, IN AID OF LEGISLATION, ON THE STATUS AND MANNER OF UTILIZATION AND DISBURSEMENT OF RESPECTIVE RECIPIENT GOVERNMENT AGENCIES OF FUNDS APPROPRIATED UNDER REPUBLIC ACT 11494, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE BAYANIHAN TO RECOVER AS ONE ACT
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR COVID-19 RESPONSE AND RECOVERY INTERVENTIONS AND PROVIDING MECHANISMS TO ACCELERATE THE RECOVERY AND BOLSTER THE RESILIENCY OF THE PHILIPPINE ECONOMY, PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFORE, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
AN ACT GRANTING SAN MIGUEL AEROCITY INC. A FRANCHISE TO CONSTRUCT, DEVELOP, ESTABLISH, OPERATE, AND MAINTAIN A DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF BULAKAN, PROVINCE OF BULACAN, AND TO CONSTRUCT, DEVELOP, ESTABLISH, OPERATE, AND MAINTAIN AN ADJACENT AIRPORT CITY
AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE PRESIDENT TO EXPEDITE THE PROCESSING AND ISSUANCE OF NATIONAL AND LOCAL PERMITS, LICENSES AND CERTIFICATIONS IN TIMES OF NATIONAL EMERGENCY
AN ACT CREATING THE COCONUT FARMERS AND INDUSTRY TRUST FUND, PROVIDING FOR ITS MANAGEMENT AND UTILIZATION, RECONSTITUTING FOR THE PURPOSE THE PHILIPPINE COCONUT AUTHORITY BOARD, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
AN ACT RENEWING FOR ANOTHER TWENTY-FIVE (25) YEARS THE FRANCHISE GRANTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES SYSTEM UNDER REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8160 TO CONSTRUCT, ESTABLISH, MAINTAIN, AND OPERATE FOR EDUCATIONAL AND OTHER RELATED PURPOSES RADIO AND TELEVISION BROADCASTING STATIONS WITHIN THE UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES AND IN OTHER AREAS WITHIN THE SCOPE OF ITS OPERATIONS
AN ACT GRANTING THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES THE POWER TO DEFER THE INCREASES IN CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM FOR THE DURATION OF THE STATE OF CALAMITY UNDER PROCLAMATION NO. 929, S. 2020, AS AMENDED BY PROCLAMATION N0. 1021, S 2020, AMENDING SECTION 4(a)(9) OF REPUBLIC ACT NO. 11199, ALSO KNOWN AS THE “SOCIAL SECURITY ACT OF 2018
While pushing for probe of the Department of Health (DOH) on its ‘deficiencies’ in the management of COVID-19 funds as reported by the Commission on Audit in its 2020 audit report, CIBAC Party-List lawmaker and House Deputy Speaker Bro. Eddie Villanueva can’t help but express immense dismay over the glaringly sluggish move of the agency in disbursing government funds aimed at urgently responding to the needs and benefits of COVID-19 frontliners.
“We are terribly disturbed on how the agency sluggishly, and with no apparent sense of urgency, disbursed some of its funds, particularly those intended for the allowance and hazard pay of our frontliners. We are in the midst of a pandemic, swift action is the name of game in winning the war against COVID-19.”
The 2020 COA report on the utilization of COVID-19 funds disclosed that a total of Php 67 billion COVID-19 pandemic response funds were ‘mismanaged’ by the DOH, with deficiencies ranging from non-compliance with pertinent laws to unused funds. Of these, funds amounting to Php 11.8 billion and Php 4.8 million intended for the provision of special risk allowance (SRA), active hazard duty pay (AHDP), financial assistance and other benefits to public and private health workers remained unreleased until end of December 2020 due to slow issuance of successive guidelines and orders and delayed downloading of cash allocation.
“These funds should have been released promptly to be used by thousands of our frontliners. Such well-timed release of assistance and benefits for our frontliners will spell the difference between inspiration or discouragement among our heroes,” adds Deputy Speaker Villanueva.
The CIBAC lawmaker also slams the perennial problem in the accumulation of unused, expired and nearly-expired drugs, medicines and other type of inventories, which in year 2020 amounted to almost Php 95 million.
“We already flagged this last year when we CIBAC filed a House Resolution calling for the investigation of the numerous audit reports citing that DOH keeps on procuring medicines and drugs more than what it needs and is able to use within the year. It’s really a must that we look into the procurement process of the agency to know why it always has a surplusage of medicines and drugs which are often stocked and not distributed, thus leading to wastage of public resources,” ends Deputy Speaker Villanueva.
Citizens’ Battle Against Corruption (CIBAC) Party List Representative and House Deputy Speaker Bro. Eddie Villanueva expresses dismay on House panel approval of a consolidated bill allowing absolute divorce.
“CIBAC firmly believes that any law that will effectively downplay the inviolability or the not-to-be-broken status of the family as a social institution is directly and inherently unconstitutional and contrary to the deeply-held Filipino value of preserving and fighting for marriage. Passing any measure that effectively negates this Constitutional mandate shall foster unabated decay in our families. Marriage, as an inviolate commitment, would now be reduced to a contractual relationship, subject to the whims of unscrupulous individuals,” says Deputy Speaker Villanueva
The House Committee on Family and Population relations approved on Tuesday afternoon a substitute bill allowing for absolute divorce. The bill provides for various grounds that will allow spouses to file for a decree of absolute divorce. Among these are the following:
1. The grounds for legal separation under Article 55 of the Family Code of the Philippines;
2. The grounds for annulment of marriage under Article 45 of the Family Code of the Philippines;
3. When the spouses have been separated in fact for at least five (5) years at the time the petition for absolute divorce is filed, and reconciliation is highly improbable.
4. Psychological incapacity of either spouse as provided for in Article 36 of the Family Code of the Philippines, whether or not the incapacity existed at the time of the marriage or supervenes after the marriage;
5. When one of the spouses undergoes a gender reassignment surgery or transitions from one sex to another;
6. Irreconcilable marital difference which refers to substantial incompatibility of the spouses due to their intransigence or fault by holding on to divergent and divisive behavior resulting to the total breakdown of their marriage which could not be repaired despite earnest efforts to reconcile;
7. Domestic or marital abuse;
8. When a valid foreign divorce has been secured by either the alien or Filipino spouse; and
9. When a marriage is nullified or dissolved by the proper canonical tribunal of the Roman Catholic Church or any other recognized religious sect or denomination
“While I do understand the plight of marriages that have become hostile and untenable, allowing divorce is not and will never be the answer to problematic unions. The legal remedies available such as legal separation, annulment, and declaration of nullity of marriage are sufficient to address them. The more pressing policy action right now is not the divorce bill, but government simply making existing remedies more accessible especially to the poor—by making the process cheaper and the resolution of cases faster,” adds Deputy Speaker Villanueva.
“Sadly, the divorce bill is a short-sighted solution to problematic marriages, which, actually, can be remedied through available legal options. It fails to see that offering couples ‘an expressway out of marriage’ will diminish the institution into a simplistic contractual relationship bereft of its pure meaning and call for lasting commitment. Injecting absolute divorce in the society is a sure formula for raising fatherless and motherless Filipino children. It will artificially manufacture reservations in the minds of future couples, who would be enabled to enter and exit marriage conveniently when their expectations are unmet. It will wreck families and spell disaster for Filipino children,” adds the CIBAC solon.
“Most of all, this is a bill against the will of God, who said in His Holy Word, ‘I hate divorce.’ And fighting against the will of God is inviting wrath to this nation. Simply, the risks and dangers far outweigh the perceived benefits of this measure,” ends the CIBAC lawmaker.
The bill will now be submitted to the House plenary for debate.
Citizens’ Battle Against Corruption (CIBAC) Party-List Representative and House Deputy Speaker Bro. Eddie Villanueva files a House Resolution urging the Office of the Ombudsman and the Commission on Audit to become ‘frontliners’ in serving swift justice to aggrieved pandemic frontliners.
CIBAC filed Tuesday at the House of Representatives House Resolution (HR) 2157 prodding the Ombudsman and COA to form and commission a composite team that will dig to the bottom of the controversial Php 67 billion mismanaged pandemic funds as reported by COA in its 2020 annual audit report.
“Such hefty amount of funds deserves a laser-focused investigation from the Ombudsman and COA. HR 2157 is our call for these anti-corruption agencies to form a composite team that will facilitate and expedite the resolution of the corruption issue DOH is facing. This must be done ASAP,” said Deputy Speaker Villanueva.
House Resolution 2157 seeks to, among others, arrive at a “fair and speedy resolution of mismanagement issues and alleged corruption of COVID-19 funds” which it deems “very critical in averting the erosion of public trust and confidence towards the government.”
HR 2157 also says that the Constitution has empowered the Ombudsman and COA to launch a motu proprio investigation on acts of government inefficiencies and impropriety as well as compel the submission of documents when needed. In addition, being independent bodies, both possess the powers and technical expertise to make an in-depth and fair fact-finding probe which has the real value and materiality as far as the purpose of accountability and prosecution of corruption is concerned.
“Because of DOH mismanagement of P67 billion COVID-19 budget, our frontline health workers have been deprived of billions-worth special risk allowance, hazard duty pay, and financial assistance,” the CIBAC lawmaker said.
“But that may just be a tip of a monstrous iceberg. Hidden underneath may be unfinished projects, flagrant noncompliance to standard procedures and regulations, and negligence in use of public funds which Congress had dictated how to spend. Thanks to COA, these are not-so-hidden anymore. Therefore, the Ombudsman must now complement the state audit agency and swiftly be at the front exacting accountability from those who might be remiss in their duties,” the CIBAC solon added.
“Aside from compelling the compliance with audit observation, Ombudsman and COA must delve more on addressing more substantial issues like overpricing, collusion and entering into transactions gravely disadvantageous to the government,” said the CIBAC lawmaker.
“The suffering Filipino people, caught in the grip of an economically crippling pandemic, demands the full accounting of these funds astronomical in proportion. Definitely, someone must be made answerable for probable abuse and pocketing of government funds,” the Deputy Speaker for Good Governance and Moral Uprightness concluded.
Rm 317 North Wing Bldg, House of Representatives, Brgy. Capitol Hills, Quezon City, 1126
