Philippine lawmakers approve 165.5b peso pandemic relief bill
Add BT as a preferred source[MANILA] The Philippines' House of Representatives on Monday approved the final version of a 165.5 billion-peso (S$4.66 billion) pandemic relief bill that would provide subsidies to the unemployed, assistance to businesses and loan repayment extension to borrowers.
The measure, now up for President Rodrigo Duterte's signature after it was approved by the Senate earlier, will also provide funds to hire more emergency health workers and at least 50,000 contact tracers as the country battles South-east Asia's largest coronavirus outbreak.
About 40.5 billion pesos would be spent on health programmes, while 55 billion pesos would go to government financial institutions as fresh capital, according to Senate finance committee chairman Sonny Angara.
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