Depoliticizing aid

If President Marcos wants to be spared from the public opprobrium arising from his token veto of the election budget passed by his congressional allies, there are certain things that he can do to dispel suspicions that he is complicit in the thievery of people's money.

- ANA MARIE PAMINTUAN

One is to defer at least until after the elections the release of funding for the items inserted during the bicameral conference that were not in the National Expenditure Program or NEP submitted by the Department of Budget and Management.

The DBM recently issued the budget call for the NEP for 2026. Executive agencies work on their respective budget proposals almost from the start of every fiscal year. The executive should demand some respect from Congress for the effort that went into the budget planning of the national government. Congress' power of the purse is not tantamount to authority to mangle the budget, especially if the mangling mainly serves lawmakers' personal purposes.

Another thing that BBM can do is to show that his push for e-governance is genuine, by ordering the shift ASAP of all ayuda payouts from in-person handouts to ATMs or e-wallets, and eliminating middlemen in applying for cash aid.

A presidential executive order should suffice for this shift, which would also promote the government's avowed push for all Filipinos to have bank accounts no matter how small the deposit.

Applications for ayuda can be done through a simple digital platform, or if in-person application is needed, only through personnel of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

The DSWD must keep the application procedure as simple and efficient as possible, because those who are forced to resort to state dole-outs are typically the neediest Filipinos, who may lack the knowhow and time for complicated processes.

ATMs are already used for the cash payouts for the poorest of the poor who are covered by the conditional cash transfer, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps.