Rowegie Abanto

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<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/173604896398220221214-1000-peso-FSJ-15.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">New 1000-peso bill. <em>ABS-CBN News</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Sunday detailed guardrails for the implementation of the Ayuda Para sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP), which has raised concerns that it could be used to sway voters ahead of the 2025 midterm polls.</p><p>AKAP, a last-minute insertion in the 2025 national budget, is said to be meant to protect minimum wage earners and the near-poor from the effects of inflation. The program&#x27;s beneficiaries can receive P2,000 to P10,000, with a holdout period of three months.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2024/12/30/govt-needs-to-ensure-akap-will-be-well-targeted-transparent-neda-exec-1506">Gov’t needs to ensure AKAP will be ‘well-targeted, transparent’: NEDA exec</a></div><p>Critics of the program have called the subsidies dole outs that could be used to &quot;buy&quot; voters and have likened it to &quot;pork barrel&quot;, a discretionary fund for lawmakers that the Supreme Court has declared unconstitutional.</p><p>In a statement, DSWD said it collaborated with the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to come up with an improved standardized targeting system for AKAP beneficiaries.</p><p>Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian in the statement said a refined intake form to better screen potential AKAP beneficiaries.</p><p>&quot;While the DSWD social workers had always practiced prudence in screening beneficiaries through intake forms, interviews, and comprehensive vetting of documents, the new form will particularly identify whether the client is indeed affected by the effects of inflation,&quot; DSWD said.</p><p>The agencies said the upcoming improved guidelines would help pacify public concerns regarding AKAP and &quot;ensure that only rightful beneficiaries&quot; could avail of assistance under the program.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2024/12/28/dswd-no-village-official-involved-in-providing-list-of-akap-beneficiaries-1234">DSWD: No village official involved in providing list of AKAP beneficiaries</a></div><div><strong>AKAP &#x27;INSULATED FROM POLITICKING&#x27;</strong></div><p>The guidelines will include a ceiling on the number of household members that can avail of the AKAP aid to reduce chances of aid duplication. </p><p>It will also &quot;include items that will state outright that the program is insulated from politicking in line with the overarching mother guidelines of the DSWD, and on existing policies insulating all government programs from politics.&quot;</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/2/18/lacson-says-aid-distribution-not-part-of-lawmakers-job-1527">RELATED: Lacson says aid distribution not part of lawmakers&#x27; job</a></div><p>Similar government aid programs like the DWSD&#x27;s Assistance of Individuals in Crisis Situations and the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers of the labor department have seen politicians attending distribution activities.</p><p>&quot;The consequences of fraudulent activities such as forging of documents and beneficiary list, instances of cutting of disbursed assistance will also be included in the guidelines,&quot; DSWD also said.</p><p>Officials have agreed to retain the provision of referrals for potential AKAP beneficiaries, DSWD said.</p><p>But referred clients and their documents are still subject to the agency&#x27;s vetting process.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2024/12/19/want-akap-aid-here-are-the-dswd-requirements-0907">&#x27;COE, ITR, social case study&#x27;: DSWD simplifies AKAP requirements</a></div><p>NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said they would provide monitoring and evaluation of the AKAP, adding that data from the Philippine Statistics Authority could be used to check the number of minimum wage earners in a family. </p><p>Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said the agency would provide information on potential beneficiaries, including the standard wage rates across the country.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/04TKOIa6XFU?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div>

<p>The Department of Social Welfare and Development detailed guardrails for the implementation of the controversial AKAP, following concerns that it could be used to sway voters ahead of the 2025 midterm polls.</p>

The Department of Social Welfare and Development detailed guardrails for the implementation of the controversial AKAP, following concerns that it could be used to sway voters ahead of the 2025 midterm polls.

'Insulated from politicking': DSWD outlines guardrails for AKAP implementation

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'Insulated from politicking': DSWD outlines guardrails for AKAP implementation

ABS-CBN News

Published January 05, 2025 12:23 PM PHT

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