Pimentel questions DSWD’s AKAP aid: It’s like a ‘secret’ program

Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian presents the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s proposed budget for 2025 during the public hearing conducted by the Senate Committee on Finance Subcommittee I on Wednesday, September 16, 2024. According to Gatchalian, the department’s budget and its attached agencies totaled to P229.8 billion. (Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau)

MANILA, Philippines — Questions surrounding its cash aid assistance called Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP) have hounded the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

This time, it was Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III  who asked about the AKAP when the DSWD presented its proposed 2025 budget before the Senate subcommittee on finance.

“What is that? Is that a purely ayuda (cash aid) program or also just an assistance program, which requires some return from the beneficiary?” Pimentel initially asked.

Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian likened the AKAP to the DSWD’s other cash aid program, Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS).

“By its name, it’s para sa mga kapos ang kita (for those who have insufficient income). It’s a social welfare program. It does not impose any conditions and it does not aim to change behaviors. It’s really on the social welfare side,” Gatchalian explained.

But if it is like the AICS program, then how come senators were not aware of it? Pimentel asked.

“How come AKAP seems to be invisible to us? We’ve not been invited to any AKAP (cash distribution). If it’s like AICS ha, it must be also like a distribution. How come it is invisible to senators, unlike AICS which is visible to senators?” he further asked.

Gatchalian pointed out that the DSWD’s activities, including AKAP payouts, were published on its social media accounts.

“But how come the level of involvement of senators in the AKAP program is yun na nga close to nothing, if not negligible when compared to AICS?” Pimentel asked again.

“If it’s like AICS, how come in its implementation it’s so different from AICS? As far as senators are concerned, it’s like a secret, invisible, off-limits program. Bakit? Hindi ko maintindihan (Why? I don’t understand),” he added.

Sen. Imee Marcos recalled the Senate being accused of  “having participated” in the approval of the P26.7-billion budget for the AKAP when they affixed their signatures to the 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA).

READ: Magic project? Gonzales says Senate approved funding for AKAP

“But in truth and in fact, we’re never made aware of this program and it was never requested in the first place by the DSWD,” she pointed out during the same hearing.

In February, Marcos claimed that the funding for AKAP only appeared in the final version of the 2024 GAA as it was not included in Malacanang’s original proposal or even in the bicameral report of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

She then suspected that the AKAP funding was used to entice Filipinos to participate in the aborted signature drive for Charter change.

READ: DSWD defends AKAP: ‘We don’t create magical projects’

Pimentel insisted that, unlike AICS, AKAP “seems to be a secret program.”

He vowed to take up the issue when deliberations on the DSWD’s budget reach the Senate floor.

Gatchalian, meanwhile, hopes Congress will still retain the line item for the AKAP in the 2025 budget.

READ: DSWD defends AKAP: ‘We don’t create magical projects’

It was not clear during the hearing if the DSWD specifically asked for AKAP funding in its proposed budget next year.