AKAP funding in 2026 budget up to Congress

The House of Representatives, tasked with scrutinizing and amending the annual national budget, will decide whether to push for funding of Congress’s pet project, the Ayuda para sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP), which received zero allocation in next year’s proposed P6.793-trillion expenditure.

House Committee on Appropriations Chairperson Mikaela Suansing confirmed in an interview on Friday that she is consulting with her colleagues on whether they will allocate a budget for AKAP, given Congress’s power to add and remove line items in the National Expenditure Program (NEP).

The NEP is the proposed budget prepared by the executive branch, which the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) submits to Congress for approval.

“As of now, I am still seeking the disposition of our colleagues in Congress. The recommendation whether to allocate or not for the AKAP next year must be a collective decision of the House,” she said.

In a separate interview, DBM Secretary Ameenah Pangandaman said the decision has been deferred to Congress, “but for us, it's not included in the priority programs.”

Implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development, AKAP did not receive an endorsed budget from President Marcos Jr. in the 2026 NEP, though other social programs under the agency, such as the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), received a budget of P113 billion.

Another social program under the agency, Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations, also received a funding, according to Suansing.

The total initial funding requested by agencies reached as high as P10 trillion. However, Pangandaman said that due to “limited fiscal space,” only P6.793 trillion was approved, unfunding some programs including AKAP.

The budget chief added that there are still unused funds for AKAP, with Palace Press Secretary Claire Castro confirming that the balance stands at P13 billion.

“There is still P13 billion remaining that can be used until the end of 2026,” Castro said in a briefing on Thursday.

AKAP, the brainchild of Speaker Martin Romualdez, provides one-time cash aid ranging from P3,000 to P5,000 to “near poor” households and workers in the formal or informal sectors who earn less than the minimum wage.

Congress allotted substantial funding for the program in the last two consecutive years under the 2024 (P26.7 billion) and 2025 (P26.16 billion) General Appropriations Acts.

This year’s AKAP budget was lower than the original House-approved proposal of P39.8 billion because the Senate initially removed the funds entirely from its version of the GAA, only to partially restore them at the last minute during the closed-door bicameral conference.

Reports indicated the P26.16 billion AKAP allocation was divided among lawmakers, with House members receiving a total of P21 billion and senators P5 billion.

Due to this “budget insertion,” the 2025 GAA drew backlash from various civil society groups and watchdogs, resulting in multiple petitions filed before the Supreme Court challenging its constitutionality.

Marcos had already warned members of Congress that he would return the 2026 GAA should it contain line items that are not aligned with his proposed budget, regardless of whether it results in a reenacted budget.

The 2025 GAA, originally set at P6.352 trillion, was trimmed down to P6.326 trillion after Marcos vetoed P194 billion worth of line items deemed inconsistent with his administration's priority programs, P16.7 billion of which was for flood control projects.

This year’s budget was also widely criticized for allegedly featuring padded unprogrammed and discretionary funds, while budgets and subsidies for the Department of Education and state health insurer PhilHealth, respectively, suffered deep cuts.

Following the passage of the highly controversial 2025 GAA, the House is set to implement reforms in the budgetary process, including scrapping the so-called small committee—deemed a secretive enclave for unchecked insertions—and allowing participation of selected civil society organizations to ensure full transparency.