Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez has affirmed the strong public support for the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Ayuda para sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP), reiterating the importance of maintaining the program in the 2025 budget, as it has become a lifeline for millions of Filipinos living on the edge of poverty.
In an ambush interview with the media during the Tabang Bikol-Tindog Oragon relief caravan and the mini-Bagong Pilipinas Sebisyo Fair in Albay Nov. 21, Romualdez encouraged senators to go to the grassroots and see how financial aid programs, like the AKAP, benefit many Filipino households.
He earlier pledged the House of Representatives’ full support to secure the funding for AKAP in the 2025 budget, highlighting the program’s impact on more than four million “near poor” Filipinos nationwide.
AKAP provides one-time cash assistance ranging from P3,000 to P5,000 to families whose incomes fall below the poverty threshold and are not covered by other government aid programs.
The program has, so far, supported over four million Filipino households, utilizing P20.7 billion of its P26.7 billion allocation to date.
Romualdez earlier said the House will fight for its reinstatement in the 2025 proposed national budget after senators removed it.
“This initiative has proven its value by providing immediate relief to struggling households, empowering them to weather economic challenges, and ensuring their resilience against inflation and other shocks,” he said in a press release from his office.
The Speaker pointed to the program’s success in regions like Bicol, Central Luzon, and Western Visayas, where fund utilization rates have exceeded 70 percent. Over 589,000 families in the National Capital Region alone have already benefited from the program.
Romualdez recently called on the Senate to reconsider its stance against AKAP, aligning himself with DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian’s plea to protect the program.
“Programs like AKAP demonstrate what effective government intervention looks like. It stabilizes households, strengthens communities, and contributes to the country’s overall economic resilience,” he stressed. ||
