LAWMAKERS on Wednesday proposed a split scheme for the Social Welfare Department’s indigent aid program to expedite its disbursement, addressing concerns the cash aid could become politicized.
Members of the 2025 budget bill’s bicameral conference committee opted to allocate P26 billion for the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Ayuda Para sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP), of which, P21 billion would be earmarked for the House of Representatives, while the remaining P5 billion would be for the Senate.
DSWD’s AKAP provides financial assistance to workers whose income falls below the poverty threshold. It provides one-time cash assistance between P3,000 to P5,000 for eligible beneficiaries.
“The allocation might be pegged to the number of congressmen and senators,” Party-list Rep. Jude A. Acidre, a member of the House contingent to the budget bill’s bicameral panel, said in Filipino during a media briefing.
“Basically, it’s one fair way of ensuring that the distributions we provide are equitable. Especially for congressmen, whose constituencies are divided according to population,” he added.
The financial aid program drew the public’s concern amid the possibility that it could be exploited by lawmakers to curry favor with voters, with the country just five months away from its elections.
Bataan Rep. Geraldine B. Roman said that lawmakers would only help DSWD in doling out the cash aid. “The sad fact of the matter is that the DSWD is undermanned. They are not really that capacitated to roll out [the financial aid].”
It would also be “counterproductive” for them to politicize AKAP’s use, saying it could leave a bad impression for their constituents.
“We do not nominate people who do not deserve this (the financial aid) out of political accommodation because it’s counterproductive for us,” she said in the same media briefing. “It’s better for our constituents to see that those receiving AKAP are those who really qualify for AKAP and those who are in need.” — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio
