Senate may hold special session to pass P52.8B subsidy budget: Hontiveros

The Senate can hold a special session during its month-long break to pass a crucial bill seeking to allocate P52.8 billion in supplemental funding for sectors hard hit by soaring oil prices, particularly transportation, farmers, and fisherfolk, Senator Risa Hontiveros said Monday.

Congress is currently in recess, though under the Constitution it can convene a special session at any time upon the President's call, especially if the legislation is urgent.

Senate Bill 1986 is the counterpart measure of House Bill 8495, filed by Hontiveros’ allies in the lower chamber.

The twin measures seek to expand subsidies for public utility vehicle drivers, including ride-hailing car operators, farmers, fisherfolk, and distressed overseas Filipino workers stranded in the Middle East, amid the worsening oil crisis caused by the United States-Israeli war on Iran.

Hontiveros stressed the need to swiftly pass the bills to ensure uninterrupted transport operations and food supply, despite skyrocketing fuel prices expected to rise further in the months ahead due to the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

She expressed confidence that the Senate’s version of the bill has a high chance of being passed, citing support from her peers.

“Although we have adjourned sine die, we can hold a special session even for a week, to pass this supplemental budget,” she said in Filipino in a radio interview, noting that a delayed government response could trigger inflation and economic slowdown. “When the price of oil increases, everything else follows, [like] food, electricity.”

Initial projections showed that it will take one to over a month before fuel prices drop once the bill granting President Marcos Jr. emergency powers to suspend or reduce the excise tax on petroleum becomes law.

According to Senate President Tito Sotto, the enrolled bill is still pending in the House of Representatives and has not yet been transmitted to Malacañang for Marcos’ approval.

The Chief Executive is adamant about signing the proposed law, which he certified as urgent, unfazed by the threat of an economic slowdown and the projected P136 billion in revenue loss.

Nevertheless, Hontiveros argued that a supplemental budget from Congress must complement the bill because prices of basic commodities and services are likely to spike during the lag period due to a lack of subsidies.

Subsidies ain't enough

Transport groups have lamented that subsidies alone are not enough to keep their operations running, unless Marcos immediately suspends the excise tax on petroleum products ahead of another spate of big-time oil price spikes.

Any subsequent major price hike, without prompt intervention, may force fishermen to stay ashore, possibly leading to a drop in fisheries production.

Earlier this month, a fisherfolk group warned that any subsequent oil price hike, without quick government intervention, may force fishermen to stop fishing, leading to a drop in production and a supply shortage.

Of the proposed P52.8 billion in supplemental budget, P12 billion will go to the fuel subsidy of PUV drivers, while P2.8 billion will cover agricultural and fishery subsidies for 1.1 million small farmers and fisherfolk. The amount is just enough to ensure three months of continued operations of these vulnerable sectors, according to Hontiveros.

“If we get the P2.8 [billion] in additional support for small farmers and fisherfolk, they will be able to continue their crops, harvests, and fishing to ensure a steady supply in the markets, and food prices will not increase immediately,” she said.

Meanwhile, the lion’s share of the budget, or P38 billion, will bankroll the repatriation and reintegration of distressed OFWs in the conflict-stricken Middle East, where over 2.4 million Filipinos are employed.

During a Senate hearing earlier this month, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration said it only has P1.76 billion in its emergency repatriation fund, which is grossly insufficient to cover the repatriation-related expenses of millions of OFWs in the Middle East.

OWWA Administrator Patricia Yvonne Caunan estimated that the funding for each OFW was pegged at only around P135,000 to P140,000 during the early days of the war. However, since the conflict has persisted and has triggered transportation and service costs to rise, another P10,000 will be incurred per head, bringing the total to P150,000 per head.

Aside from OFWs, some Filipino pilgrims and tourists have sought government repatriation.

Data from the Department of Foreign Affairs showed that of the 1,262 repatriation requests from Filipino non-workers in several parts of the Middle East, 613 were either repatriated or assisted as of Monday, 23 March. A total of 649 requests are still pending.

The Senate’s ad hoc committee, formed last week to discuss the government's response to the Middle East crisis, will hold its first hearing today, Tuesday.

Panel chair Win Gatchalian, who also heads the Senate Committee on Finance, aims to have the crisis plan finished in one to two weeks, citing the urgency of the situation.

Meanwhile, Senator JV Ejercito called for the creation of an inter-agency task force to prepare for the potential economic and energy impact of the widening conflict in the Middle East.

Last week, the Senate adopted a resolution urging the executive branch to establish a national contingency framework using a whole-of-government, whole-of-nation approach.

As one of its proponents, he said the measure should push for early action amid potential fuel supply disruptions and create a task force to provide daily updates to keep the public informed.