A SUB-COMMITTEE of the House Committee on Appropriations yesterday realigned P32.06 billion from the Department of Public Works and Highway’s (DPWH) proposed budget for 2026 budget to the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) program.
The Budget Amendments Review subcommittee (BARSc) led by panel chair Nueva Ecija Rep. Mikaela Suansing took the amount from the P255 billion that was cut from the DPWH’s original budget proposal of P881 billion after the new leadership of Secretary Vince Dizon revised it following allegations of graft and corruption in the budget process.
House Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan (PL, 4Ps) moved to increase the AICS budget in the House version of the proposed P6.7 trillion national budget for 2026, saying Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian had previously made the appeal.
Gatchalian has earlier told lawmakers during the budget hearing on the DSWD’s proposed P223 billion budget next year that since AICS only has a proposed budget of P27.028 million under Malacañang’s National Expenditure Program (NEP), the program’s target beneficiaries have been reduced from six million to 3.6 million, which means that there will be some 2.978 million underserved beneficiaries next year.
The DSWD originally requested the Executive for a P37.68 billion allocation for AICS in 2026, but only P27 billion was approved to be included in the NEP.
“Ang ni-request po ng ating butihing Sec. Rex Gatchalian ay (The request of the good Sec. Rex Gatchalian was) P37,068,390 to augment this fund for DSWD at sa aking pagtatanong sa ating BARSc na pwede nating ibigay (and when I asked our BARSc how much we can give) from the P255 billion na kinaltas sa DPWH, ang proposal ko po ay mag-allocate tayo ng P32,063,000,000 para sa AICS program ng DSWD (that was removed from the DPWH’s budget proposal and my proposal is to allocate P32,063,000,000 for the AICS program of the DSWD),” Libanan told the sub-committee hearing.
Guimaras Rep. JC Rahman Nava, the sponsor of the DSWD budget and vice chair of the appropriations panel, supported the proposal, saying the augmentation is very much needed to help the beneficiaries who will be effected by the budget cut for AICS, especially since around seven million individuals who are in dire financial situations will not be able to receive social aid because there was no budget allocated for the Ayuda para sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP) program for 2026.
The DPWH’s budget was reduced by P255 billion after locally funded flood control projects worth P252 billion were taken out of the proposal following the demand of members of the House of Representatives for the DPWH to review and revise its spending program. The P3 billion remaining budget cut came from other items in the department’s proposed budget.
The revised budget proposal of the DPWH is now P625.78 bullion, or 28.9 percent lower than the original proposal of P881 billion.
