Co: House to push for revival of P39-billion AKAP funds at bicam

FILE PHOTO: Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Elizaldy Co. Photo from Co’s office

LEGAZPI, Albay — Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Elizaldy Co said they would push for the reinstatement of the P39 billion allocation for the Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita (AKAP) program when the bicameral conference committee on the proposed 2025 national budget convenes.

Co, chairperson of the House committee on appropriations, said  Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez has directed him to ensure the restoration of AKAP funding, as millions of struggling Filipinos depend on this “critical financial support.”

According to Co, the AKAP, where near-poor individuals earning P23,000 or less are given a one-time P5,000 cash aid, is currently the government’s most vital amelioration program.

“We can’t allow the administration’s most vital socialized program to disappear,” he said in a statement. “Until these families earn at least P45,000 per person monthly, AKAP remains essential.”

“If we can’t provide proper wages, this program is the right form of support to shield them from high prices and economic hardship,” he added.

READ: Senate panel wants removal of budget for DSWD’s AKAP

Co also warned that removing AKAP means removing a safety net for people living paycheck-to-paycheck.

“Without AKAP, families living paycheck-to-paycheck will have no safety net for emergencies, such as illness, death in the family, or natural disasters,” the lawmaker pointed out.

“Our people need AKAP now more than ever. We will not allow this essential program to be dismantled without a fight,” he added.

Last November 6, it was reported that the Senate committee on finance had recommended the removal of AKAP funds under the proposed 2025 national budget, as stated in the Senate’s committee report on House Bill (HB) No. 10800.

HB No. 10800, or the 2025 General Appropriations Bill, is the version of the proposed P6.352 trillion budget that was approved by the House of Representatives last September 25.

The possibility of removing the AKAP has prompted Speaker Romualdez to urge senators to visit different places in the country and talk to the people so that they would know the significance of this intervention.

According to Romualdez, some senators may need help understanding how big of an impact AKAP provides, noting that the different Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fairs have shown that people prefer that the program continues.

“Opo nadidinig po natin ‘yong iba sa Senado, hindi yata nakaka-intindi yata kasi hindi yata sila bumababa masyado,” Romualdez said.

(Yes, we heard that some people in the Senate need help understanding why AKAP is essential, because they rarely engage with the people.)

READ: Imee Marcos: AKAP ‘defunded’ billions from gov’t pension

“Kaya nandito kami, umiikot kami lahat sa mga probinsya, dito sa mga Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair, higit dalawang dosenang probinsya ang naikutan namin, ngayon bumalik kami sa Bicol, at nakikita po natin ay ito po ang gusto ng mga kababayan po natin na programa, galing sa DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development),” he added.

(That’s why we’re here, we are visiting provinces, attending the Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair, over two dozen provinces have been visited, now we are going back to Bicol, and we saw that the people here want this program, which is under the DSWD.)

Much controversy has surrounded AKAP ever since leaders conceptualized it for the 2024 national budget.

No less than Romualdez’s cousin, Senator Imee Marcos, claimed that the P26.7 billion House insertion for AKAP has “defunded billions of pesos in pensions for retired military and uniformed personnel as well as government workers.”

Marcos also said she was unaware that funds were diverted to the AKAP, but House Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr. said Marcos was one of the senators who signed the page containing the AKAP provisions in the 2024 General Appropriations Budget’s committee report.

Deputy Majority Leader and ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo previously admitted that it was him who thought of the AKAP program, when he was still chief of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Tulfo said he had observed that middle-class workers are often neglected or left behind in most government aid programs because the government has been focused on implementing measures to help the poor.