NEAR POOR The Ayuda para sa Kapos ang Kita Program (Akap) was launched nationwide by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on May 18, 2024 with an initial funding of P3 billion. Photo taken that day and released by the DSWD’s Mimaropa field office shows the first wave of applicants who came for the cash assistance ranging from P3,000 to P5,000 per beneficiary.

MANILA, Philippines — Despite criticisms, the Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program (Akap) was able to help almost five million near-poor Filipinos, or those under lower middle-income status, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said on Thursday.

DSWD Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao said 99.31 percent of the P26.7-billion fund allocated to Akap has been utilized, including a 100 percent utilization rate for Cagayan Valley (Region 2), Davao Region (Region 11), and Caraga (Region 13).

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“The Akap program has demonstrated a strong impact with P26.157 billion in funds, or 99.31 percent utilization rate, from the total P26.7 billion budget allocation for 2024,” Dumlao said.

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Under the Akap, individuals earning P23,000 or less but who are not recipients of other government interventions may get a one-time aid of P5,000.

Akap was one of the items under the 2025 national budget criticized, as many observers believed it could be used for politicking, especially with the country months away from the midterm elections. Former Finance Undersecretary Cielo Magno said lawmakers are merely using Akap for “political gain.”

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READ: Ex-Usec: Akap still susceptible to ‘politicking’

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Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian, however, assured the public that Akap would not be affected by politics as the DSWD’s staffers receive and verify requests for aid with or without referrals from lawmakers and local government officials.

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READ: DSWD: Akap beneficiaries don’t need political backers

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“The DSWD will not be used by anybody for their political gains, not next year, not ever,” Gatchalian said.

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“Our social workers, and not politicians, determine the beneficiaries. DSWD social workers also process the Akap applications and determine how much the qualified beneficiaries will get,” he added.

Akap can be requested by beneficiaries for medical, funeral, food, and cash relief, which will be approved by the DSWD’s Crisis Intervention Units across the country.

“There is no GAA line item that entitles any congressional district or LGU to have an allocation in any amount and lodged this with the DSWD that could benefit their constituents. Referrals from legislators and local executives are entertained pursuant to existing DSWD guidelines,” Gatchalian said.

Meanwhile, Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Elizaldy Co said the high utilization rates for the Akap show that it is an example of transparency in government and a standard on how funds can be spent without corruption.

“Akap is a clear example of how government funds should be used—efficiently and without corruption,” Co said in a separate statement on Thursday.

Akap was first introduced in December 2023, when lawmakers were crafting the budget for 2024. In an ambush interview on the sidelines of the bicameral conference committee hearing last December 13, 2023, Co explained that the Akap would be the government’s instrument in fighting inflation, by equipping near-poor workers with means to buy goods.

READ: Workers earning no more than P23,000 monthly to get P5,000 aid – House

Controversy followed Akap when President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s sister Senator Imee Marcos claimed that the Senate was unaware of the provisions creating the program.

House Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales clarified that senators, including Sen. Marcos, actually signed the page containing the provisions for Akap which means that they have checked the page.

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

Eventually, Deputy Majority Leader and ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo admitted that the Akap was his brainchild, saying he thought of the program when he was still DSWD secretary.

Under the 2025 national budget signed by President Marcos last Monday, P26 billion was allocated for Akap.

According to the Department of Budget and Management, Akap will be placed under “conditional implementation,” which means that there will be guidelines issued before programs and projects are implemented.

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The firm hopes to secure provisional authority to make its business up and running while the ERC’s virtual hearing on its application is in progress, according to the document posted on the regulator’s website on Wednesday, October 2.

READ: DBM: 12 programs subject to ‘conditional implementation’ in 2025la bet88

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