The House of Representatives will most likely continue funding the new P60-billion Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita (AKAP) program in 2025, Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez said Wednesday.
AKAP is part of almost P500 billion social amelioration program or ‘ayuda’ for at least 12 million poor and low-income families or an estimated 48 million Filipinos under the proposed P5.768-trillion national budget for next year.
The leader of the 300-plus-strong House made the statement as he welcomed the signing by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. of the 2024 national budget.
“We intend this to be a continuing program to help our people. Thus, it is critical that we should make it work in its first year of implementation,” Romualdez said.
Romualdez said he does not foresee any difficulty in implementing AKAP.
“We just have to make sure that the beneficiaries are qualified under government criteria and the money reaches them on time and with sufficient safeguards in place,” he said.
The Speaker said he hoped AKAP would succeed in 2024 so the House could again provide funding for it in 2025 and the years ahead, along with other assistance programs in the national budget.
For the first time, under the Marcos administration, Congress introduced AKAP in the 2024 budget. The program aims to extend cash assistance to poor and low-income families.
Each household earning a monthly income of P23,000 or less would receive a one-time cash aid of P5,000. Thus, the total budget of P60 billion for the initial target of 12 million families.
The House leader also reiterated his commitment to see to it that the defense of the West Philippine Sea, from Scarborough Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc off Zambales and Pangasinan in the north to Ayungin Shoal in Palawan in the south, gets enough funding.
“These areas are inside our 200-mile exclusive economic zone. They belong to no one but us. Again, we are one with President Marcos, our armed forces and our Coast Guard in protecting and defending what is ours,” he said.
The 2024 budget includes P1.5 billion for the expansion and development of the airport in Pag-asa Island and the construction of a shelter port in Lawak, the island closest to Ayungin Shoal.
At the same time, the House leader alerted national agencies and local government units to prepare for the implementation of the 2024 national spending program.*
