A COUPLE of decades ago, House Speaker Jose de Venecia thought of passing a law that seemed radical at that time because it could have been a game changer in the way we conduct elections.
De Venecia wanted the government to appropriate funds for use by the existing political parties, especially during the campaign period. With this, the former speaker believed that official corruption would decrease as politicians need not curry favors from campaign donors from the business community which would need to recoup their “investments” in their candidates once they are already in office. Government contracts and tax breaks are granted to rich and favored businessmen who bankroll the election winners, putting the nation forever in the quagmire of graft and corruption.
This idea of JDV was relegated to the back burner of the Philippine legislature, although he said it was already being implemented in some countries in Europe.
‘The De Venecia concept of the people’s money being used in the highly expensive political campaigns has finally descended on us in the form of the ayuda system.’
Decades after, here comes Congress making a spin on this De Venecia suggestion, but dressing it up and sweetening it with legal embellishments that people will not notice that they themselves are shouldering the campaign expenses of candidates, especially those already in office.
They call it “ayuda” or assistance, a term popularized during the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. In the Philippines, ayuda comes in the form of AKAP, or the Ayuda para sa Kapos ang Kita Program, which is officially administered by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). This is on top of the older Assistance for Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) which is also run by this department.
Pretty soon, this administration will run out of names for clones of previous ayuda programs. That these programs are duplicating each other is obvious — these are just unconditional cash dole-outs that perpetuate the pathetic scene whereby impoverished and emaciated masses line up in some stage receiving money from some politicians or government officials, thanking them profusely for getting a slice of the pie that is essentially theirs in the first place.
The De Venecia concept of the people’s money being used in the highly expensive political campaigns has finally descended on us in the form of the ayuda system. We note that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. retained the allocation in the 2025 national budget passed by both the House and the Senate for these dole-out program, which ostensibly pruned the spending programs of the Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Education, the Department of National Defense, and PhilHealth.
As if a consoling afterthought, the administration is assuring the people that fund disbursements by the Department of Budget and Management for these ayuda programs will be in order, and that politicians especially congressmen and senators are banned from attending the payout events, along with their posters, billboards and tarpaulins.
This prohibition will likely be honored in the breach rather than in the observance, and we are witness to these transgressions in many parts of the country.
It is time to hold Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian to his word that he will — and can — strictly implement this ban.
