Duterte wants to 'direct' businesses as 'last resort' in COVID fight: Speaker

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MANILA -- The special powers that President Rodrigo Duterte is seeking will allow him to "direct" businesses only as a "last resort" if they refuse to help the government fight the novel coronavirus pandemic, Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano said Monday.

Malacanang over the weekend asked Congress to pass a measure that would declare a national emergency and allow government to tap privately-owned utilities and businesses. A joint session of the Senate and the House of Representatives will tackle the proposal on Monday.

With such power, government can direct establishments like gas stations to stay open if they refuse to, and use hotels as quarantine sites for COVID-19 patients or as lodging for health workers, said Cayetano.

"Iyon pong isang sasabihin mo na halimbawa special power: iyong power to direct businesses 'pag ayaw sumunod," he told DZMM.

(That''s what special power means for example: the power to direct businesses if they don't want to obey the government.)

"Ang nasa draft, hindi i-take over -- kundi as a last resort, 'pag hindi nag-cooperate, saka iti-take over kasi nasa Konstitusyon iyon... Pero binago na nga namin pati iyong wording to simply 'direct' businesses," he added.

(In the draft, it's not 'take over' -- but as last resort, if they don't don't cooperate, that's when government will take over because that's in the Constitution. But we changed that, including the wording, to simply 'direct' businesses.)

The measure, he said, also sought to set aside "a little bit less than P200 billion" and give some 18 million families P5,000 to P8,000 each, depending on the cost of living in their regions, said Cayetano.



"Ang gagawin po namin hindi appropriations, kundi bibigyan po ng leeway ay gobyerno ayusin iyoong budget at off-budget items natin para puwedeng gamitin," he said.

(What we will do there is not appropriations, but instead, we will give the government leeway to fix its budget and off-budget items so these could be used.)

The joint session, scheduled at 10 a.m., will also seek additional funding for the government's fight against the disease, which as of Sunday claimed 25 lives in the Philippines. A total of 380 cases were confirmed and 17 patients recovered.

Duterte earlier placed under home quarantine all households in Luzon, the country's most populous island, until April 12 to arrest the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The House of Representatives plans to amend its rules so that Monday's special session can be held with only 20 lawmakers physically present and the rest joining online, said Cayetano.