Congressmen Dy, Marcos have Kalinga bill for the oil crisis. Will it work?

Over a month since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared a state of national energy emergency, the House of Representatives has yet to finalize its measure that will address the impact of the oil crisis in the Philippines.

Filipinos can only look back to the last major crisis endured by the country in 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic brought the world to a standstill. At the time, the 18th Congress passed a relief package — Bayanihan Act — only over a week after the government put Luzon on full lockdown.

It’s not an apples-to-apples comparison, and the House of the 20th Congress, during the break, met twice to hear government agencies outline the impact of the US-Iran war on Filipinos’ everyday lives.

But it is only now that the lower chamber is ready to review a draft bill on the table — a proposal called “Kalinga Act of 2026” — filed by Speaker Bojie Dy and the President’s son, Majority Leader Sandro Marcos.

No longer Bayanihan 3

At first, House ways and means chairman Miro Quimbo of Marikina’s 2nd District branded the relief package to be introduced by the House as Bayanihan 3, referencing the first two packages borne out of the health crisis of the early 2020s.

But Quimbo later dropped the Bayanihan tag, saying that the Kalinga bill proposed by the House leadership includes broader provisions, and goes beyond ayuda, the Filipino word for financial aid targeting vulnerable sectors.

The Kalinga bill sees itself as an emergency response framework at a time when inflation surges due to instability on fuel prices.

The proposal still outlines various types of direct assistance to the most impacted sectors, such as:

• fuel subsidies for transport drivers, farmers, fisherfolk, and logistics providers
• fare subsidies for commuters and transport assistance for low-income workers
• direct cash assistance to minimum wage earners and low-income households
• targeted energy/fuel subsidies, low-interest loans, credit guarantees, and a potential six-month moratorium on government loan interest payments for small businesses

Emergency powers, triggers

The bill seeks to grant emergency powers to the president to realign, reprogram, and augment funds from the national budget, suspend or reduce fuel taxes, enter into emergency supply agreements, and take advantage of emergency procurement modalities. These powers expire 90 days after the law’s passage.

The proposal also sets “triggers” to activate components of the Kalinga program, such as stabilization of fuel prices, targeted assistance, and MSME relief. These include conditions when:

• the global oil price exceeds market thresholds
• domestic oil prices rise by at least 30% over a continuous 30-day period
• inflation reaches extraordinary levels based on the Bangko Sentral’s assessment
• national fuel reserves drop below a 30-day supply as determined by the Department of Energy (DOE)
• DOE identifies imminent supply disruptions or emerging energy shortages
• the President declares a state of national energy emergency
• there are other extraordinary external shocks that drive a surge in domestic fuel prices

Once the law is passed, an interagency task force will be formed, chaired by the executive secretary, co-chaired by the energy and finance secretaries, and will consist of various government agencies.

A working draft

The bill faced its first committee review during a May 5 hearing of the House’s ad hoc committee on legislative energy action and development (LEAD).

It is not without its critics.

Senior Deputy Minority Leader Leila de Lima of Mamamayang Liberal raised concerns about the catch-all phrase “extraordinary external shocks,” which is one of the triggers. Ako Bicol Representative Alfredo Garbin questioned whether the bill, because of the triggers, automatically grants the President emergency powers without action from Congress, contrary to what the Constitution says.

Garbin and BH Representative Roberto Nazal also raised a point about approving a supplemental budget — either when expenditures under the Kalinga bill hit a defined ceiling, or when funds are used for augmentation.

There are harsher feedback. The three-member Makabayan bloc flagged the emergency powers to be given to the President, which they worry would be prone to abuse.

“We emphasize that a 90-day expiration is not an adequate guarantee when Congress can extend these powers through a joint resolution. In a political environment where the executive routinely exerts undue influence, sunset provisions can easily become revolving doors for renewed emergency authority,” opposition lawmakers Antonio Tinio, Sarah Elago, and Renee Co said in a statement.

“This is the same administration that allowed unprogrammed funds to be abused and is now asking for extraordinary powers to realign, reprogram the budget,” they added.

Still, and as expected, government agencies invited to the hearing broadly expressed support for the bill, which they say is a crucial safeguard against fuel-driven inflation.

Various offices proposed amendments: the interior and labor departments asked to be included in the task force, the Department of Migrant Workers wanted specific provisions for emergency repatriations, and the Philippine Competition Commission suggested tiered inventory requirements instead of imposing mandatory minimum inventory levels on oil companies to avoid burdening small players.

The numerous suggestions reflect the reality of the bill being still rough around the edges, on top of the challenge of harmonizing the proposal with UPLIFT, a draft measure from the executive.

Representative Quimbo, however, hopes to get the job done as soon as possible.

“Next week, we will come up with a consolidated Kalinga bill that will address our energy crisis in the short term, medium term, and long term,” he said on May 5.

As inflation in the Philippines surges to 7.2%, the highest in three years, Congress is under a lot of pressure to act faster. – Rappler.com