MANILA – During the continuation of a public hearing on the people’s initiative (PI), senators raised questions about approximately P26.7 billion in financial assistance under the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Sen. Imee Marcos, leading the inquiry by the committee on electoral reforms and people’s participation, expressed surprise at the discovery of the P26.7-billion Ayuda Kita sa Kapos program (AKAP), which was not included in the national expenditure program according to the DSWD.
Marcos shared information from a text message she received, indicating that “all soft projects including AKAP must go through the office of the Speaker, AKAP, AICS, TUPAD, MAIP for the PI and other efforts.”
Referring to Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS), Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD), and Medical Assistance to Indigent Patients (MAIP) programs, Marcos, who sponsored the DSWD budget for 2024, sought clarification.
There was no immediate response from Speaker Martin Romualdez regarding these matters.
“I understood AKAP was under the DSWD budget. If you recall, in the Senate, I handle the DSWD budget. But like the Comelec’s mysterious additional P12 billion, this P26.7 billion in the budget of the DSWD is alien to me,” Marcos said.
Sen. JV Ejercito said he was also surprised to hear about AKAP, a program unknown to senators who deliberated on the General Appropriations Act of 2024.
“AKAP is just as foreign to us,” DSWD Undersecretary Fatima Aliah Dimaporo said.
“It is not an exclusive project or program for Congress, but it is technically foreign in the sense that it has no guidelines yet, so it does not exist as a program,” Dimaporo said when asked by Sen. Ronald dela Rosa if Congress decided to fund the project or if the DSWD requested it.
When Marcos asked whether AKAP was included in the national expenditure program, Dimaporo replied, “No.”
“Do we allot enormous sums of money such as this almost P27 billion for a project or a program that is undefined, unnamed, unfamiliar with no guidelines whatsoever with no target beneficiaries, and is just left open? Is this the usual practice in the DSWD?” Marcos further pressed.
“Not necessarily, so sometimes DSWD has these magical projects that no one has ever heard of before?” she further said.
Budget and Management Secretary Amenah Pangandaman mentioned that the P26.7-billion AKAP in the 2024 budget has no IRR yet.
“This is another cash subsidy program of the DSWD for those impacted by the country’s rising inflation. All other programs likened to ayuda has already been comprehensively released,” the DBM secretary explained.
