Meanwhile, the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) is now calling on the House and Senate to speed up the legislature’s bills calling for additional assistance amid the pandemic’s impact on the economy. These include:
- P10,000 Ayuda Bill
- 100 Daily Wage Subsidy Bill
- Paid Pandemic Leave Bill
“The people are in dire need of support during these times. Malaki pa rin ang banta ng Covid-19. Limitado ang pagkilos natin dahil sa lockdown. Mahirap maghanap ng trabaho. Kaliwa’t kanan, namamamatay ang ating mga kababayan — kung hindi dahil sa Covid-19, dahil sa hirap at kagutuman,” said Jerome Adonis, secretary-general of KMU.
“Hindi dumadating, at kung dumating man, lubhang kulang ang suportang nakukuha natin mula sa gubyerno. Kung may urgent tayong dapat isalang ngayon sa mga komite at sa plenaryo, ito dapat ang mga batas na nagbibigay ng pinakamalaking benepisyo para sa mahihirap,” it added.
The Senate is expected to discuss Bayanihan to Arist as One Act, the P405-billion relief package and the third in the Bayanihan series.
Adonis is also now monitoring the people on how the government will use aid and rehabilitation funds in this pandemic, especially with the controversy overspending and “non-spending” of some departments and agencies.
KMU calls for faster passage of cash aid bills
Even before the Commission on Audit reports, he said there is already P9 billion in funds from Bayanihan 2 that remain unspent. Part of this would have been reserved for the assistance of jeepney drivers.
“Mayroong pondo ang gobyerno, pero ilang ulit na nating napatunayang ipagdadamot nila ito sa mahihirap kung hindi sila kakalampagin! Habang itinutulak na maipasa ang mga susunod pang batas para sa ayuda, dapat patuloy pa rin nating igiit ang pamamahagi ng pondong nakalaan para sa ayuda at iba pang porma ng relief,” the KMU officer said.
The country’s unemployment rate in June 2021 remained the same as the 7.7 percent reported a month ago. This is lower than the unemployment rates in April (8.7%), February (8.8%), and January (8.7%) of the same year, but higher than the 7.1 percent reported in March 2021.
In terms of unemployment rate magnitude, 3.76 million Filipinos 15 years old and over were unemployed in June 2021, compared to 3.73 million in May 2021.
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