House to contest Senate over AKAP slash funding

The House of Representatives will insist on reinstating the P39.8-billion allocation for the Ayuda para sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP) after the Senate removed it from the proposed 2025 budget.

The program, under the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), is designed to assist the “near poor,” including minimum wage earners making P21,000 or less per month, who are vulnerable to economic shocks such as job loss or runaway inflation, which can easily push them back below the poverty line.

The House had earmarked P39.8 billion for the social program in the 2025 budget, a threefold increase from the current P13 billion allocation.

However, Senator Imee Marcos, the DSWD’s budget sponsor, announced that the funding was deleted and realigned to the agency’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations program to prevent “dispute or jealousy over the fund allocation.”

Although the realignment will be discussed further in the bicameral panel comprising House members and senators, Speaker Martin Romualdez warned that they would contest the Senate’s decision to defund the program.

“AKAP is not just a safety net; it is a lifeline for millions of Filipino families teetering on the edge of poverty… Cutting its funding would be a disservice to the millions who rely on this vital assistance,” he said.

“We stand with Secretary Gatchalian in urging our colleagues in the Senate to uphold the AKAP budget… The House of Representatives is ready to champion this cause in the bicameral discussions if necessary,” Romualdez added.

Marcos previously argued that government funds should prioritize long-term development and self-reliance rather than creating another “ayuda” program.

AKAP has been controversial after Marcos accused House members of using it to gather signatures for the “fake” people’s initiative (PI) to push for Charter change—a contentious move forcefully opposed by senators.

Marcos, who also sponsored this year’s DSWD budget, claimed that the current P26.7-billion AKAP funding was "alien" and "magical" to her and was inserted by the House to support the PI drive for amending the 1987 Constitution.
The senator further alleged that this “insertion” by the House had “defunded” billions of pesos from pensions for retired military and uniformed personnel, as well as from retirement and separation benefits for government workers.

House leaders, however, denied the allegations, arguing that Marcos could not feign ignorance of the allocation because the approved bicameral report on the 2024 General Appropriations Bill bore her signature.

In the meantime, Romualdez reiterated that “we will fight for AKAP” and vowed not to allow its funding to be “rolled back.”
House lawmakers typically lead AKAP distributions in various communities and provinces. Marcos noted that senators should be welcome to “gatecrash” these events.