SEN. Imee Marcos yesterday rebuked officials of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for their failure to present a list of beneficiaries of the controversial Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP) cash aid.
During yesterday’s hearing of the Committee on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development, Marcos asked the representatives of the three agencies to present their list of AKAP beneficiaries but was told that no such list exists.
“Paano ninyo matutukoy kung sino ang tamang beneficiary kung wala naman pala kayong listahan ng minimum wage earners (How can you identify who are the rightful beneficiaries if you do not have a list of minimum wage earners),” Marcos said.
Labor Undersecretary Benjo Benavidez tried to skirt the senator’s question by saying that the AKAP has a clear process of application.
This was rejected by Marcos, who said: “Ang maliwanag, walang listahan ng minimum wage earners ngayon. At ito ang target ng AKAP ngunit hindi maliwanag kung sino sila. Wala kayong pangalan (It is clear there is no list of minimum wage earners right now. These are the targets of AKAP and yet it is not clear who they are. You no do not have their names)?”
DSWD Undersecretary Aliah Dimaporo affirmed that the list does not exist.
“There is no list, but there are guidelines that will guide or provide the requirements for those who want to avail of AKAP,” Dimaporo said.
But this, too, did not sit well with Marcos who again took to task the officials for their failure to make an inventory of the country’s minimum wage earners.
The DSWD has said that an individual must belong to the low-income category, especially those who failed to reach the minimum wage, to qualify under the AKAP program.
The AKAP is a program under the DSWD that distributes one-time cash aid to “near poor” minimum wage earners. It first materialized in the 2024 budget with a budget of P26.7 billion.
It has an appropriation of P26 billion in the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
President Marcos Jr. has placed this year’s AKAP under conditional implementation to “ensure that the people’s funds are utilized in accordance with their authorized and stated purpose.”
Under the 2025 GAA, the cash aid program will be implemented in coordination with the DSWD, DOLE, and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).