Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

A woman counts the amount of cash aid given by the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) at the Dr. Juan G. Nolasco Highschool in Tondo, Manila on July 3, 2020. The PRC reached out to 204 beneficiary families in Tondo giving out P3,500 per family as part of their cash assistance to households affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

Ayuda

Victoria Tulad

ABS-CBN News

<div><br/></div><p>MANILA — Senate Committee on Finance chairman Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian vows to not allow the Ayuda para sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP) back into the national budget during the hearing on the proposed 2026 budget of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).</p><p>“We will not allow AKAP to reincarnate in the bicam. That’s for sure,” Gatchalian said on Wednesday.</p><p>He pointed out that AKAP is redundant, saying its types of assistance compared to those under the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) are almost the same except for material assistance and psychosocial assistance which only AICS has.</p><p>The other types of assistance that both AKAP and AICS have are medical, funeral/burial, food, and other cash assistance.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/2025/9/23/house-panel-approves-2026-national-budget-bill-1846">House panel approves 2026 national budget bill</a></div><p>Gatchalian also showed findings from the Commission on Audit (COA) in 2024 which said that AKAP “disbursed unauthorized types of assistance” and “ineligible individuals received AKAP aid.”</p><p>He mentioned, however, that AKAP was a formulation of the House of Representatives and not the DSWD.</p><p>According to Gatchalian, “instead of reincarnating AKAP, we’ll just put additional funding in AICS para ma-cover deficiencies.”</p><p>DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian, the senator’s brother, agreed that AKAP seemed to be a duplicate of AICS and said they will abide with what Congress will decide.</p><p>Sec. Gatchalian said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) removed AKAP and AICS from DSWD’s proposed 2026 budget, which is why the proposed budget of the Office of the Secretary decreased to P221 billion from P362.3 billion.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>DIVERT</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Senator Erwin Tulfo suggested allocating a part of the national budget originally intended for flood control projects to DSWD to fund AICS and the Sustainable Livelihood Program.</p><p>“Would you agree with me, kaya tinapyasan ngayon ng DBM because of that reason na nagamit noong nakaraang halalan ng mga politiko, lalo na po yung AKAP na ni-raise po ng isang kasamahan namin dito, yung AICS, pati po yung SLP na yan, hindi lang po sa inyo, pati po sa TUPAD nagamit din po, MAIP for their campaign ika nga funds,” Tulfo stated.</p><p>Sec. Gatchalian answered that it was &quot;a very prevalent observation and I will not dispute it.&quot;</p><p>&quot;But number two ang inaalis ng DBM from our top-line prior year allocation will be amendments introduced during the budget season. Inaalis nila lahat yun back to our bare levels. So that’s why at the onset if you look at it, nabawasan yung mga binabanggit ninyong programa— AICS, AKAP, SLP because binalik lang nila kami doon sa original na NEP (National Expenditure Program) value namin.”</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/8/15/garin-funding-akap-in-2026-difficult-but-aics-expansion-eyed-1706">Garin: Funding AKAP in 2026 &#x27;difficult&#x27;, but AICS expansion eyed</a></div><div> </div><div><strong>SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOOD PROGRAM</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Sec. Gatchalian also reported that the SLP budget for 2026 decreased by P1.8 billion.</p><p>“Kulang na kulang ho talaga,” he lamented.</p><p>According to the DSWD website, SLP is “a capacity-building program for the identified poor, vulnerable, and marginalized households and communities aimed at providing viable interventions and support to improve the program participants’ socio-economic conditions by accessing and acquiring necessary assets to engage in and maintain thriving livelihoods.”</p><p>Senator Loren Legarda said she would like to institutionalize SLP.</p><p>“Because for me it’s even more effective than AICS. While AICS is like band-aid and emergency situation nandiyan, pero ang SLP binibigyan mo ng puhunan at ng tulong at nagkakaroon siya ng maliit na pagkakakitaan,” Legarda commented.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEOS</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><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/IXxAhGUqWKU?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><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/e4Umn9ahNzc?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>Senate Committee on Finance Chairman Sherwin Gatchalian vows to not allow the Ayuda para sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP) back into the national budget during the hearing on the proposed 2026 budget of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).</p>

Senate Committee on Finance Chairman Sherwin Gatchalian vows to not allow the Ayuda para sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP) back into the national budget during the hearing on the proposed 2026 budget of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

No reincarnation of AKAP in bicam: Gatchalian

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No reincarnation of AKAP in bicam: Gatchalian

Victoria Tulad,

ABS-CBN News

Published Sep 24, 2025 04:05 PM PHT

Read More:

Sherwin Gatchalian

Ayuda para sa Kapos ang Kita Program

AKAP

Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation

AICS

2026 Budget

SLP

Loren Legarda

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