MANILA, Philippines — Contrary to Sen. Grace Poe’s claim, President Marcos fully supports the Ayuda para sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), according to House Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan.
“We beg to disagree. The President clearly supports the AKAP. In fact, he signed the 2024 General Appropriations Law, which allocated P26.7 billion for the AKAP,” said Libanan, representative of the 4Ps party-list.
Poe, chair of the Senate finance committee, earlier called for the program’s removal from the DSWD 2025 budget allocation, on the basis that “it is not a priority program of the President.”
The program needs to be continued in the 2025 national budget, Libanan said.
AKAP is designed for the “near poor” or “lower middle class” segment of the population, which includes minimum wage earners vulnerable to economic shocks like the sudden death of a household head, sickness, loss of job or runaway inflation that can easily send them back to poverty.
Libanan is counting on the Senate to support larger funding allocations for the government’s targeted cash aid programs for poor and low-income families in the proposed 2025 national budget.
“We have very high hopes that the Senate will endorse the P114-billion allocation for the 4Ps, as well as the P39-billion allocation for the AKAP in House Bill 10800, or the proposed 2025 General Appropriations Law,” he said.
“There is ample evidence that government-sponsored cash transfer programs are highly cost-effective in improving the lives of disadvantaged families and raising consumption levels,” he noted.
Meanwhile, House leaders expressed full support for AKAP, saying the social amelioration program positively impacts poor Filipino families’ lives.
House Deputy Majority Leader Jude Acidre, Assistant Majority Leaders Zia Alonto Adiong and Jil Bongalon and Cagayan de Oro 1st District Rep. Lordan Suan expressed reservations about the Senate finance panel’s decision to remove AKAP funds in the proposed 2025 budget.
The DSWD earlier said it will abide by the decision of the bicameral Congress.
“We will implement only programs and projects that are enumerated in the GAA (General Appropriations Act). As always, we respect Congress that wields the power of the purseeasy bet,” DSWD spokesperson Irene Dumlao told reporters at a weekly forum.