AKAP 2.0

For the second time around, the 19th Congress inserted anew a House-created "pork-barrel" allocation in the guise of "ayuda."

- MARICHU A. VILLANUEVA

Provided in this year's National Expenditure Program (NEP) of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. (PBBM), it was dubbed Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program, or AKAP for short. From an original House proposal of P39 billion, the Senate reduced AKAP to the same amount of the previous year's P26 billion in the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA).

Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah Pangandaman confirmed this year's AKAP was again one of the many "insertions" in the 2025 GAA. At our Kapihan sa Manila Bay last Wednesday, the DBM chief reassured the public, however, that the 2025 AKAP will be released with specific "trigger points" or thresholds before the funds are released.

Such "trigger points" may include, she cited, the current inflation rate among the fresh implementing guidelines. Pangandaman quoted the specific instructions as contained in PBBM's veto message sent to the respective leaderships of both chambers of the 19th Congress.

To wit: "However, to ensure that the government assistance is not merely a provisional solution to a persistent issue, I am compelled to subject the implementation thereof to the convergence of efforts of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), geared towards more strategic interventions leading to the long-term improvement of the lives of the qualified beneficiaries, while guarding against misuse and duplicative and fragmented benefits."

In his own words, PBBM - albeit somewhat reluctantly - imposed this condition on the 2025 AKAP.

The Chief Executive himself created last year a Cabinet team to specifically find ways to temper the impact of inflation on all Filipinos. So why should there be presidential qualms on AKAP?