THE P26.7 billion budget for the new Ayuda para sa Kapos ang Kita (AKAP) program lodged with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) remains intact to this day as the guidelines for its distribution have yet to be completed.
DSWD assistant secretary and spokesman Romel Lopez said this yesterday amid the suspicions of senators that the funds were used to entice individuals to support the campaign for a people’s initiative (PI) amend the Constitution spearheaded by the People’s Initiative for Modernization and Reform Action (PIRMA).
AKAP is a new program that senators said was allegedly “inserted” by members of the House of Representatives during the bicameral discussions on the 2024 national budget. It seeks to provide a one-time P5,000 cash subsidy for workers across the country earning less than P23,000 per month.
AKAP has a total fund allocation of P60 billion in the 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA), but only P26.7 billion is included in the DSWD budget.
Lopez said not a single centavo has been withdrawn from the DSWD’s allocation for AKAP.
“Kami sa DSWD, medyo nagtataka sa alegayson na iyon (ginamit para sa PI) kasi at this point in time, wala pa pong nagagastos dun sa P26.7 billion na nakalaan po sa programang AKAP (We at the DSWD are baffled by these allegations because at this point in time, not a single centavo of the P26.7 billion allotted for the AKAP program has been used),” Lopez said.
He said the department is still crafting the guidelines that will be used for the distribution of the cash aid. Once these are completed, the guidelines will be transmitted to the Department of Budget and Management for fund allocation and release.
Lopez also said: “Nilinaw na po ng ating Kalihim (Rex Gatchalian), hindi po magagamit sa kahit anong inisyatibo maliban po sa initiative dun sa pagtulong dun sa tinakda po ng provisions – sa mga minimum wage earners, low income category na apektado po ng inflation. Dun lang po (Our Secretary has clarified that it [AKAP fund] will not be used for any initiatives, except for the initiative stated in the provisions — for minimum wage earners, low-income category affected by inflation. That’s all).”
Lopez said the DSWD, led by Gatchalian, is ready to attend a Senate inquiry on the issue once Sen. Imee Marcos, chairperson of the Committee on Electoral Reforms and People’s Participation open a separate investigation into the AKAP matter.
Marcos has earlier said she was eyeing a separate probe into the AKAP fund so as not to mix-up her committee’s investigation into the alleged buying of signatures for the PI campaign.
Marcos and other senators have aired suspicions that AKAP funds were used to supposedly fund the signature pay-off, an allegation that was denied by congressmen, who said the presidential sister and the other senators were fully aware of the existence of the program as proven by their signature in the bicameral budget report.
