Speaker Lord Allan Velasco
(Lord Allan Velasco’s Office / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Authored by Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, House Bill 8628 or the proposed Bayanihan to Arise As One Act has won solid backing from 162 members of the House supermajority, minority and independent blocs.
Lawmakers manifested their support amid criticisms hurled by former Speaker and Taguig-Pateros Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano against HB 8628 which Velasco co-authored with Marikina City Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo.
Cayetano said the Velasco-Quimbo proposal “might not be approved in time to help those who need it the most,” referring to thousands of Filipinos who lost their jobs or were displaced economically by the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.