Republic of the Philippines /
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES (|) ~
Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No, 5709

Introduced by HON. ALAN PETER S. CAYETANO, HON. LUIS
RAYMUND “LRAY” F. VILLAFUERTE, JR., HON. PAOLO “PULONG”
Z. DUTERTE, HON. LOREN LEGARDA, HON. FERDINAND MARTIN

G. ROMUALDEZ, HON. ERIC G. YAP, HON. MARIA LAARNI L.
CAYETANO, HON. MICHAEL T. DEFENSOR & HON. “KUYA” JOSE
ANTONIO R. SY-ALVARADO

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Forecasts released prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus
pandemic and the subsequent implementation of stringent measures
intended to curb its transmission in the country suggest that the
Philippine economy was poised for a 6.5 percent to 7 percent growth
in 2020 riding on the back of sustained government spending across all
sectors and propelled by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s “Build, Build,
Build” flagship program.

However, with the nearly two months-long suspension of major
business activities and work in erstwhile ongoing public infrastructure
Projects, not to mention the deferral of new private and public
construction works, experts now project a contraction of the national
economy at zero to 1.5 growth rate for 2020.

According to the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS),
weaker global and domestic demand over the next few months could
cost the Philippine economy at least PHP276.3 billion under best case
scenarios or PHP2.5 trillion under worst case scenarios with the
transport, storage, communication, services, tourism and wholesale


and retail trade sectors expected to record substantial losses’. PIDS
notes that due to self-isolation and community quarantine guidelines,
the most directly affected would be the ability of workers to participate
in the labor market.

In early April, the Philippine Constructors Association observed that
around 1.3 million construction workers were likely displaced as a result
of the Luzon-wide Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ)?. Many of
these workers would have to go back to their provinces with no jobs
and source of livelihood.

In addition to locally displaced workers, the Department of Foreign
Affairs (DFA) has been reporting a continuous stream of repatriated
Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). According to the DFA, as of April
25,2020 a total of 19,466 OFWs have already returned to the
Philippines with thousands more, at least 200,000 more are expected
to come home due to the global pandemic?.

In the face of impending global recession and unemployment, it is
incumbent upon the government to establish both palliative and
curative interventions that would simultaneously support the Filipino
worker in the immediate term while laying out the foundations for a
more resilient and sustainable future.

With various government and other public figures in the country and
abroad likening ongoing efforts to curb the COVID-19 pandemic to that
of a “war” (albeit, against an invisible enemy), socio-economic
circumstances arising from communities emerging out of COVID-19
lockdown or quarantine measures may be similarly compared to “post-
war" rehabilitation and recovery.

The annals of history and economic theory point to key paradigms for
insights and critical adoption, if not, modification or innovation suited to
the present challenges.

' Projected Disease Transmission, Health System Requirements, and Macro-economic Impacts
of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the Philippines. Michael R.M. Abrigo Jhanna Uy
Nel Jason Haw Valerie Gilbert T. Ulep Kris Francisco-Abrigo:

https://pidswebs. pids. gov. phICDN/PUBLICATIONS/pidsdps2015,pdf

Over 1 million construction workers stranded, displaced due to Luzon lockdown

Maan Macapagal, ABS-CBN News Posted at Apr 18 2020 03:17 AM https://news.abs-
cbn.com/news/04/18/20/over-1 -million-construction-workers-stranded-displaced-due-to-luzon-
lockdown

* Almost 20,000 OFWs evacuated, thousands more to be repatriated amid COVID-19 — DFA
Ratziel San Juan (Philstar.com) - April 25, 2020 - 1:05pm.
https:/www.philstar.corm/headlines/2020/04/25/2009733/almost-20000-ofws-evacuated-thousands-
more-be-repatriated-dfa


Out of the Great Depression Era in the 1930s, particularly in the United
States, the insight from economic theory that government spending and
interventions in the market economy could stimulate demand and spur
growth guided American New Deal policies and European welfare state
models. In the United States for example, the Civilian Conservation
Corps (CCC) established by the US Congress on March 31, 1933,
provided jobs for millions of, unemployed during the Great Depression.
Working in forest management, flood control, and conservation
projects, development of state and national parks, forests, and historic
sites, the hired men and women of the CCC were paid US$30.00 a
month and were required to “remit” a substantial part of their earnings
to their homes and families to stimulate local demand and
consumption‘,

Insights from the New Deal Era were carried into the Post-World War II
€conomic recovery policy-making interventions. In 1948, the United
States Congress passed the Economic Cooperation Act of 1948 which
would be popularly known as the Marshall Plan appropriating funds for
the recovery of war-torn European nations and other countries
damaged by the Second World War. The Marshall Plan would go on to
assist government authorities in bankrolling public infrastructure
Programs among others to create jobs and employ workers, stimulate
domestic economies and build trade linkages worldwide. On the
American domestic front, the US Congress enacted in 1965 a Public
Works and Economic Development Act® which increased public
spending to strengthen public infrastructure and address growing
unemployment.

A similar law — Republic Act No. 3466 or the Emergency Employment
Act of 1962 — was enacted by the Philippine Congress creating an
Emergency Employment Administration mandated to implement large-
scale public works projects which included power development,
national and communal irrigation systems, river control and drainages,
and the construction of highways and feeder roads connecting
agricultural communities to market centers.

In contemporary times, the global recession of the late 2000s arising
from the US subprime mortgage crisis drew policy-makers’ attention
once more to the role of the government in economic recovery and in

“if the Great Depression Is Any Indication, Things Won't Just Go Back to ‘Normal’ After the
Coronavirus Pandemic Ends. James C. Cobb. April 27, 2020. https:/time.com/5827348/great-
depression-coronavirus-after/

“The Public Works and Economic Development Act Of 1965 — A Domestic Marshall Plan,
Monroe Karasik. The Business Lawyer. Vol. 22, No. 3 (April 1967), pp. 617-624


particular, the contributions of public infrastructure spending. In the US
Congress, policymakers and experts argued during debates leading to
the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
that infrastructure investment “can be an important source of
stimulating labor demand when the labor market is underutilized, and
enhancing U.S. productivity through long-neglected investments in
roads, bridges, water systems, ports, etc.®” Signed into law by then
President Barack Obama in February 2019, impact assessment studies
on the ARRA suggest that it contributed substantially to real GDP
growth and jobs creation - arresting the nearly 700,000 jobs per month
losses in the American economy prior to its implementation and
creating around 6 million employment-years (one employment year is
equivalent to one payroll job for one year)’. But the present
unemployment arising from COVID-19 under the incumbent President
Donald Trump's Administration is more than 20 million asking for
unemployment insurance claims and still counting.

Although the Philippine economy rode out of the global recession of the
late 2000s with flying colors, the government under the leadership of
then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo remained pro-active and
uncomplacent in protecting Filipino workers and guaranteeing the
availability of employment. In 2009, Arroyo’s Economic Resiliency
Program (ERP) ordered the hiring of some 93,000 unemployed Filipino
workers towards the implementation of a roadside maintenance
program®.

The lessons of economic policy and history appear clear:
infrastructure spending by the government “directly increases
employment because workers are hired to undertake construction
projects. It also adds to demand for goods and services through
purchases of material and equipment and through additional
spending by the extra workers who are hired ... that increase in
demand leads to further hiring”®. This is what experts call the
cumulative or multiplier effect that makes infrastructure spending

beneficial to economic recovery. The Build, Build, Build Program,

further complemented by a Plant, Plant, Plant Program introduced

° The Role of Public Works Infrastructure in Economic Recovery. Claudia Copeland, Linda
Levine, William J. Mallett. Congressional Research Service. September 21, 2011
hitps:/fas.orq/sap/ers/misc/R42018.pdf

"The Economic Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 Ninth
Quarterly Report.
hitpsi/obamawhitehouse archives. gov/sites/defaultfles/docs/cea_9th_arra_report_final_pdf,pdf

* Emergency job program to hire 93,000 workers, Paolo Romero - November 2, 2009 - 12:00am

bitos://www.philstar.com/headlines/2009/1 1/02/519308/emergency-job-program-hire-93000-workers

° Copeland, et. al, page 24
4


under the Administration of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte will provide
a significant stimulus for accelerated economic recovery.

But while post-wartime or post-economic downturn Policies can serve
as a guide, the uniqueness and distinctiveness of the post COVID-19
lockdown situation and the “new normal” measures that must attend it
also provide new pathways that government local infrastructure
spending can take towards a more robust and resilient national
economy. As an insightful policy blog from the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) puts it, “the fall of output in this crisis is not driven by
demand: it is an unavoidable consequence of measures to limit the
spread of the disease” and therefore, the role of economic policy is not
simply that of stimulating aggregate demand’.

The present legislative proposal contained under this Bill draws from
past lessons but situates them in light of our contemporary needs.

Under this COVID-19 Unemployment Reduction Economic
Stimulus (CURES) Act of 2020, government infrastructure spending
shall be primarily geared towards maximizing the direct and indirect
creation and sustaining of jobs particularly in the Philippine rural
countryside. Anchored on the premise that the “construction phase of
infrastructural projects like roads, watershed development, construction
of irrigation dams, or powerhouses, the Poor are provided employment
and income-earning opportunities""', the CURES Act of 2020 will
prioritize the funding of projects that target infrastructure building down
the most basic unit of the political structure - the barangay level. These
huge infrastructure projects shall be undertaken in conjunction with the
“Balik Probinsiya Program” recommended by Senator Christopher
Lawrence “Bong” Go which was approved by President Duterte.

These areas for immediate funding shall be prioritized - Health,
Education, Agriculture, Local Roads/Infrastructure and Livelihood
(HEAL) with proposals for funding evaluated against a criteria based
on 1) actual need in the locality; 2) number of locally sourced new jobs
to be created and/or sustained after the construction of the
infrastructural output; and 3) potential for forward and backward

° Economic Policies for the COVID-19 War. Giovanni DellAriccia, Paolo Mauro, Antonio
Spilimbergo, and Jeromin Zettelmeyer in IMF Blog Insights and Analysis on Economics and Finance.
https://blogs. imf.org/2020/04/01/economic-policies-for-the-covid-19-war/

"' Evaluation of Infrastructural Interventions for Rural Poverty Alleviation, 2000 Economic and
Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
https://www.unescap.org/sites/defaultfiles/Rural_Poverty_fulltext.pdf


linkages with local businesses, suppliers and traders, small and
medium enterprises and skilled and unskilled workforces. By refocusing
government interventions towards these areas, the CURES Act of
2020 also aims to rectify inequities in critical infrastructure funding.
Moreover, it lays the necessary groundwork for the implementation of
urban decongestion policies (part of the Balik Probinsya Program), the
absorption of workers returning home to the countryside through
entrepreneur development Projects, and the eventual eradication of
tural poverty in areas that will benefit the most from the positive socio-
€conomic impact of public development projects. The implementation
of the “Balik Probinsiya Program” shall be further incentivized by tax
and non-tax measures such as new or expanded roads that lead to the
Opening of new business districts, economic and tourism zones.

Infrastructure shall be the backbone of our economy following the
insight of almost all respected economists and recognized
policymakers. This is why, although palliative measures such as cash
transfers, unemployment dole-outs, relief, and other forms of
immediate amelioration support are undoubtedly necessary at the
moment, it is in the interest of both the government, the private sector,
and the Filipino people at large that a lasting cure for economic
resilience be established.

In view of the foregoing, the immediate approval of this bill is most

earnestly sought.
ALAN ZB S. CAYETANO
LUIS RA’ IND ee JR.
Zz

PAOLO “PULONG” Z. DUTERTE


(i ge

LOREN Lecdn A
tk G. ROMUALDEZ

ERIC G. YAP

MARIA NIL. CAYETANO

MICHAEW/T. DEFENSOR
ra

“KUYA” JOSE’ANTONIO R. SY-ALVARADO


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

6
HOUSE BILL NO. us

Introduced by HON. ALAN PETER S. CAYETANO, HON. LUIS
RAYMUND “LRAY” F. VILLAFUERTE, JR., HON. PAOLO “PULONG”
Z. DUTERTE, HON. LOREN LEGARDA, HON. FERDINAND MARTIN

G. ROMUALDEZ, HON. ERIC G. YAP, HON. MARIA LAARNI L.
CAYETANO, HON. MICHAEL T. DEFENSOR & HON. “KUYA” JOSE
ANTONIO R. SY-ALVARADO

AN ACT ESTABLISHING A COVID-19 UNEMPLOYMENT
REDUCTION ECONOMIC STIMULUS (CURES) FUND AND
INSTITUTING MECHANISMS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION

THEREOF AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR

Section 1. Title. - This Act shall be known as the "The COVID-19
Unemployment Reduction Economic Stimulus (CURES) Act of
2020".

Section 2. Declaration of Policy. - Infrastructure in various socio-
economic sectors is the backbone of the country’s economy. With the
possibility of an economic downturn and unemployment inevitably
arising from the restrictive lockdown measures implemented by the
Philippine government to curb the transmission of the COVID-19 virus
among Filipinos, it is the declared policy of the State to develop more
stimulative measures and implement interventions that will create new
Jobs, protect existing employment-generating activities, and promote
the equitable distribution of resources towards the eradication of
poverty and the integral inclusive development of the Filipino people.

8


Thus, there is an urgent need to: a) establish a Special Fund that shall
be disbursed primarily for the implementation of infrastructure projects
across these priority areas - Health, Education, Agriculture, Local
Roads/Infrastructure and Livelihood (HEAL); b) define the guidelines,
criteria, and standards in accessing, implementation, and evaluation of
use of the same fund; and c) establish the government authority and
body which shall be responsible for the collection, evaluation, approval,
and oversight of the projects and activities to be undertaken under the
same fund.

Section 3. Appropriation, Automatic Release and Fund Availability.
- The amount of One Trillion Five Hundred Billion Pesos (PHP
1,500,000,000,000.00) is hereby appropriated for the establishment of
the COVID-19 Unemployment Reduction Economic Stimulus
(CURES) Fund.

The budgetary requirements for projects approved for implementation
under the CURES Fund shall be automatically released to the
implementing unit in order to facilitate the start-up and completion of
Projects and removing existing regulations and issuances that would
impede the same.

Appropriation for the CURES Fund shall be made available as they are
hereby appropriated for three (3) fiscal years from the approval of
this Act under the following schedule: five hundred billion pesos
(PHP500,000,000,000.00) on the first year, five hundred billion
pesos (PHP500,000,000,000.00) on the second year, and five
hundred billion pesos (PHP500,000,000,000.00) on the third year.
After three years, Congress shall enact legislation extending or
modifying the same or terminating the Fund. In the latter case, the
unobligated balance shall be made available for the general budgetary
requirements of the year succeeding its termination.

Section 4. Eligibility. - Infrastructure projects under the priority areas
(HEAL - Health, Education, Agriculture, Local Roads/Infrastructure
and Livelihood) shall be implemented through the CURES Fund

9


provided that a project to be eligible shall be located in an area that on
the date of the submission of the application by the designated
department or agency of the National Government authorized to
receive, screen and evaluate the project for implementation shall meet
the priority guidelines for the fiscal year under consideration by the
Executive Cluster Committee established under this Act.

4.1. Implementing Units - The implementation of projects under
the CURES Fund shall be undertaken by national
government departments / agencies authorized by law or
their charter to implement such class of Projects. Such
departments/agencies may, however, enter into a
Memorandum of Agreement with a local government unit
Provided that said local government unit possesses the
Capacity to implement and maintain the same after
construction.

4.2. No project shall be approved for implementation under the
CURES Fund unless the Proponent can demonstrate that
actual work on the same can realistically commence
within a period of 90 working-days from the release of the
Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) from the
Department of Budget and Management).

Section 5. Project Classes. Infrastructure projects to be funded under
this Act shall primarily be for construction (and related activities, e.g.
repair, improvement, etc.) Purposes but may include the procurement
of the necessary and essential equipment and implements for the
operations of the same. No money shall be paid out of this fund for the
Payment of personnel services, job order salaries, professional and
consultancy fees, the conduct of trainings, seminars, sports and cultural
activities, of the Local Government units where the projects are located.

5.1. Health-Related Projects to be funded through the CURES
Fund shall prioritize the following:


. construction/ improvement /expansion of barangay or
municipal health centers, or the procurement of start-up
equipment and supplies for new /existing facilities under this
class;

. construction/ improvement/expansion of Municipal or City
Health clinics, hospitals, and other facilities or the
procurement of start-up equipment and supplies for new /
existing facilities under this class;

- construction / improvement /expansion of Provincial and
District Hospitals and Municipal Health facilities and the
Procurement of equipment and supplies for new/existing
facilities under this class;

. construction of testing centers and isolation facilities for
communicable diseases and additional intensive care units
at local hospitals;

. purchase of IT equipment or laboratory facilities to enable
immediate coordinated health response to suppress
transmission of contagious or communicable diseases,
information exchange, and contact tracing;

. purchase of equipment to upgrade hospital records into an
electronic health records system;

. infrastructure investment for “telehealth” services, e-
prescriptions, and mobile or remote access to health
records;

|. purchase of cloud-based platforms for clinical data analysis,
management, and consolidation;

i. construction of wastewater or sewage treatment plants or

disposal facilities to minimize chemical and microbial
hazards associated in human and hospital waste.


5.2. Education-Related Projects to be funded through the
CURES Fund shall prioritize the following construction/
expansion improvement of school buildings and classrooms
to decongest school facilities

a. construction of washing and sanitation areas, toilets in
every school

b. construction/repair/improvement of other school facilities
for industrial arts, culinary services, libraries, covered
courts, etc.

c. construction/repair/improvement of alternative learning
centers, including E-Learning System classrooms and the
Procurement of equipment and supplies for the operations
of facilities under this class;

dé construction/repair/improvement of youth civic centers,
gymnasium, and sports or athletic facilities;

€. construction/improvement or expansion of technical-
vocational learning centers and the procurement of
equipment and supplies for the operations of facilities
under this class; and

f. the establishment of digital infrastructure (IT facilities, IT
hubs) in any public educational, training, or learning
institution and the procurement of equipment and supplies
that will facilitate Electronic Learning / Remote or Distance
Learning in the localities.

5.3. Agriculture-Related Projects to be funded thru the
CURES Fund shall prioritize the following:

a. construction/repair/improvement of municipal, provincial
fish ports or docks (with ample space that could support

12


social distancing for direct buyers) and their connecting
road/access networks and other necessary buildings/
attached facilities or equipment for use therein;

. construction/repair/improvement of post-harvest facilities
(including cold storage facilities, fish landing for aqua-
fisheries, meat processing and packaging centers for
commercial distribution, etc.) and the procurement of
farming machinery or equipment and fishery equipment
(motorized fishing vessels, gill nets, etc.) for facilities and
activities under this class;

. construction/repair/maintenance of municipal /provincial
livestock facilities, hatcheries, fish nurseries, and other
aqua-fishery facilities;

. construction/repair/ improvement of barangay/
municipal/city/provincial trading (bagsakan) centers, food
terminals, and/or satellite markets following a floor plan
that allows social distancing;

. construction/repair/improvement of municipal/city/
provincial abattoirs and hazard free packaging facilities;

. construction/repair/improvement of barangay/municipal/
provincial agricultural training centers, nurseries, and other
agri-fishery research and development facilities;

. construction/repair/improvement of drainage and irrigation
systems for flood-prone agricultural areas;

. construction or acquisition of more modern fishing vessels
for cooperatives and fabrication of more fishnets, and other
agri-fishery implements; and


i. construction of alternative livelihood facilities for
agricultural workers that would involve processing
economically significant agri-business output.

5.4. Local Roads/Infrastructure and Livelihood Projects to
be funded through the CURES Fund shall prioritize the
following:

a. construction or expansion of farm-to-market roads with
adjoining solar drying pavements to facilitate transport of
goods and supplies.

b. construction /improvement / expansion of provincial,
municipal or barangay roads affecting vulnerable
communities;

c. construction /improvement /expansion of local roads
(provincial, municipal and/or barangay), roads, and other
networks connecting schools, state-owned universities
and, colleges and government-operated community
colleges to communities;

d. construction/repair/improvement of local roads (provincial,
municipal and/or barangay) connecting communities to
health facilities (hospitals, testing centers, reserved
quarantine and isolation facilities, etc.);

. construction of provincial, municipal and/or barangay new
road openings; and

f. construction of walking or bicycle lanes projects and
construction of bridges across creeks or irrigation canals.

g. construction of evacuation centers and disasters
emergency facilities.

14


. construction, expansion or improvement roads /pedestrian
lanes in provinces outside National Capital Region (NCR)
that go to tourist facilities, beach areas or mountain parks
and/or roads going to new business districts, new
economic zones or MSME business hubs.

i. the implementation of an Enhanced Sustainable Livelihood

Program under the Department of Social Welfare and
Development (DSWD).

j. the implementation of an Enhanced Tupad Program under

Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

. the implementation of the proposed Barangay Emergency
Employment Program (Beep) under DOLE to generate

employment and mitigate unemployment due to COVID-19
and ensure income for formal and informal sectors during the
post-COVID-10 recovery stage.

. the establishment of access to credit and financing for Small
and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

. the establishment of Research and Development (R&D)
Programs for product development and enterprise
diversification.

. building/construction of integrated agricultural processing
facilities for high-value agricultural products.

. the building/construction of production hubs and local
livelihood product marketing and trading centers to improve
trade linkages and partnerships.

. the enhancement of human resource capacity such as
Technical Vocational Training and Education and the
construction of training centers and knowledge transfer
facilities.


Section 6. The CURES Fund Executive Cluster Committee. An
Executive Cluster Committee is Hereby Established for the Purpose of
Formulating Guidelines in the Administration of the CURES Fund and
the Designation of the Executive Department or Agencies that shall
Receive Applications, Screen and Vet and Process for Implementation
projects authorized under this act.

a. Composition of the Executive Cluster Committee (or
their duly authorized representative:

Chairperson

Vice-Chairs

Members

Secretariat

Secretary of the Presidential
Adviser for Flagship Programs
and Projects

Secretary of Public Works &
Highways

Secretary of Finance
Secretary of Health

Secretary of Education
Secretary of Agriculture
Secretary of Trade and
Industry

Secretary of Interior and Local
Government

Director-General of the
National Economic
Development Authority

b. Roles and Responsibilities of the Executive Cluster

Committee

i. within 15 days from the approval of this Act, the
CURES Fund Executive Cluster Committee shall
convene to formulate its Implementing Rules and
Regulations (IRR) which shall include among others,
if deemed necessary, the standard formula
calculating the multiplier effect of the
infrastructure project to be implemented
considering its effects on local employment and job

16


creation as one of the primary screening factor in
project selection and approval;

ii, the Executive Cluster Committee shall establish and
maintain an Open and Publicly Accessible Online
Portal through which projects funded out of this Act
may be monitored;

iii. the Executive Cluster Committee shall, pursuant to
the eligibility criteria established in this Act and
further specified in the subsequent IRR and using the
formula adopted, approve Priority areas for funding
consideration, including the projects which may be
implemented therein based on the most
advantageous to local employment and job creation
as determined by the adopted formula;

iv. the budgetary requirements for the implementation of
approved projects under the CURES Fund shall be
automatically downloaded to the accounts of the
implementing departments/ agencies with the
implementation and use of the same subject to usual
government audit regulations;

Section 7. Reporting Requirement. - The Executive Cluster
Committee shall periodically compile all the reports of the
implementing department/agencies including the projects
implemented by or through local government units and shall submit
within 25 days at the end of every semester, a semestral report of the
Status of the projects to the office of the President of the Republic of
the Philippines and to the Congress of the Philippines through the
office of the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives.

Section 8. Separability Clause. — If, for any reason or reasons, any
Part or provision of this Act shall be declared as unconstitutional or
invalid, the other parts or provisions hereof which are not affected
thereby shall continue to be in full force and effect.


Section 9. Repealing Clause. — Alll Provisions of existing laws, orders,
rules and regulations or parts thereof which are in conflict or
inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed,
amended or modified accordingly.

Section 9. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect immediately upon its
Publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) newspapers of

general circulation in the Philippines.

Approved,