The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said Friday it is revising the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) guidelines to prevent politicization of payouts.

"We are currently drafting an amendment to the AICS guidelines, and we can copy the good provisions from the AKAP (Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita) guidelines, the joint memorandum circular. There, in the early part of the guidelines, it clearly states that politicians are prohibited from grandstanding. If the DSWD is conducting a payout, no politicians are allowed to be present. They also cannot distribute flyers, leaflets, and all," Undersecretary Adonis Sulit of the Policy and Plans Group (PPG) said in a mix of English and Filipino.

Undersecretary Sulit referred to Joint Memorandum Circular No. 2025-01, issued with the Department of Labor and Employment and the National Economic and Development Authority, which bars politicians from payout activities and prohibits distributing leaflets or posting materials that link programs to political personalities. He added that non-DSWD personalities should likewise be excluded from payout sites.

Responding to concerns that beneficiaries might credit local leaders instead of the implementing agency, Sulit said: "We agree and we support that it should not only be improper, but we should also avoid the appearance of impropriety where some people take credit even if they should not, because it’s taxpayers’ money. It’s government funds and not anyone’s personal money. So this should go directly to those requesting assistance. We will do that in the new AICS guidelines, and we will state with specificity that they are prohibited, following what is written in the AKAP guidelines."

Beyond the ‘No Epal’ clause, the DSWD will clarify provisions on assistance amounts in line with Commission on Audit observations.

“We are in the process of amending the guidelines for AICS because the COA also had some findings. Their findings did not say that we were doing anything illegal, only that some provisions were unclear. So, management said that once we see how much the AICS budget will be for next year, we need to fix it to avoid confusion. For example, it says there is a ceiling of P10,000, but then a client might only receive P5,000 — clients should not feel misled in such cases. But let me emphasize, the amount to be given really depends on the assessment of the social worker,” Sulit said.

He noted the amendments support the agency’s push for transparency and improved service delivery.