LAST Thursday, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) clarified that its Ayuda para sa Kapos ang Kita Program, or AKAP, is not a pork barrel program.
Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian made the clarification in response to retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio’s assertion that the cash assistance under AKAP “resembles the controversial pork barrel” and that “barangay officials submit the list of beneficiaries.”
Gatchalian said: “With due respect to the former Supreme Court justice, AKAP is not [a] pork barrel since any good Samaritan can refer potential beneficiaries, and the barangay has nothing to do with AKAP based on our existing guidelines.”
While legislators and local officials can refer potential aid recipients, the agency’s social workers vet the beneficiaries to make sure that they are eligible based on the AKAP guidelines. The applicants do not need a local political leader as a backer.
“The original intention of the AKAP program is to protect the minimum wage earners and near-poor Filipinos from the effects of inflation that erode their buying power,” said Gatchalian. As of November 2024, inflation for the bottom 30 percent of income households was 2.9 percent. It was down from 3.3 percent in October 2024.
“The AKAP program is intended to provide a menu of assistance for goods and services that are affected by high inflation depending on the needs of the individuals,” Gatchalian added.
According to the DSWD, the General Appropriations Act of 2024 — specifically, Special Provision 3 of the DSWD budget — authorized P26.7 billion for the funding of AKAP. It gives financial assistance to minimum wage earners whose already low income is further affected by rising inflation. Almost 5 million “near poor” Filipinos have already benefited from the AKAP from January to Dec. 26 this year.
Last November, Gatchalian had denied withering criticism from Vice President Sara Duterte that the government’s two assistance programs being run by the DSWD are being used to buy votes for the May 2025 elections.
The vice president was referring to the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) and to AKAP. She also cited the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (Tupad) of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) as another vote-buying scheme by the administration.
Gatchalian stoutly denied this, saying that the two programs do not have any political color. Applications are vetted by the DSWD social workers, whether the applications have been endorsed by local political leaders or not.
To further tighten the screening process for the beneficiaries, Gatchalian met last week with Secretary Arsenio Balisacan of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma. They discussed the salient points that will be included in the new guidelines for the implementation of the AKAP program this year.
They met in line with the directive of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. requiring the conditional implementation of AKAP and several programs of the national government, subject to the submission of clear guidelines.
Many governments have implemented conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs to widen the options for poor families through interventions in health, nutrition, and education. Families enrolled in CCT programs receive cash in exchange for complying with certain “conditionalities” — preventive health requirements and nutrition supplementation, education and monitoring designed to improve health outcomes and promote positive behavior change.
In general, conditional cash transfers have been proven to work. Even the United Nations Development Program has encouraged the use of the CCT for the poor within a certain time frame and linked to conditions on neonatal health, maternal health and children’s education. CCT programs also have many advantages.
CCTs can help lift millions from poverty by increasing household income and consumption. They can also improve the health and nutrition of children and reduce stunting. CCTs can empower women to protect their children’s health and increase their enrollment and attendance in secondary schools.
Moreover, CCTs can reduce domestic violence. They can also be used to kick-start infrastructure recovery work, such as building water barriers or clearing roads. CCTs can be a cost-effective way to distribute aid to people in need.
Well-targeted CCTs can be effective at reaching the poor and excluded groups. On average, 80 percent of the benefits go to the 40 percent poorest families.
However, some studies have found that when CCT programs end, some of the benefits also end. Now, that is the bigger challenge that the DSWD — and the Marcos government — face.