DSWD bans election bets from AKAP payout sites

MANILA, Philippines — Candidates in the midterm polls are banned from payout areas for the Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development,  to insulate AKAP from politicians, DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said yesterday.

The ban on candidates participating in the distribution of AKAP cash aid is among the guidelines that Gatchalian is formulating together with Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma and Socioconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan for AKAP implementation.

Gatchalian is set to meet with Laguesma and Balisacan for their task of coming up with the joint guidelines on how the controversial AKAP should be implemented.

In a television interview, Gatchalian noted that the “first safety net” for AKAP implementation is to ban candidates from the payout area during the campaign period.

“I think there are enough rules set forth during the campaign period prescribed by jurisprudence that will make sure that candidates don’t get to use public funds for their campaign purposes,” Gatchalian said.

He added there have been initial talks with Laguesma that proved “very fruitful.”

“Now we’re going to meet again together with Secretary Balisacan to make sure that, one, the targeting is very tight and, two, that we remain faithful to the special provision or to the veto message of the President when it comes to the conditional implementation of the AKAP,” he said.

Gatchalian admitted that the DSWD works with “local politicians and local public servants such as mayors, governors, Congress people and even senators.”

He added the DSWD accepts from politicians or “from any Juan dela Cruz” recommendations for possible AKAP beneficiaries.

But he stressed that there is no guarantee that those referred to the DSWD will be accepted in the program.

“They can refer cases to us of people who need help and we will vet those clients being referred to us. Let me emphasize, not because they are referred to us, that means they will pass the scrutiny or the assessment of our social workers,” he said.

He pointed out that DSWD social workers “have the final say” on who should get financial assistance or how much cash aid should be given.

“At the end of the day, it’s the bureaucrats or the social workers of the DSWD that will vet every single claim for every single program,” he said.

Launched in May 2024, AKAP was designed to help the near-poor or the wage earners who do not have access to regular forms of assistance intended for the poorest population.

The program became controversial after it was associated with an earlier signature campaign of the administration for Charter change.