Senators baffled by DSWD’s unheard of ‘AKAP’ program embroiled in PI signature drive

Senators were baffled by the appearance of a government assistance program under the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) called the Ayuda sa Kapos sa Kita Program (AKAP) which was allegedly used to gather support for the People’s Initiative (PI) drive to amend the 1987 Constitution. 

The program was mentioned during the continuation of the hearing of the Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms and People's Participation presided over by Sen. Imee Marcos which sought to investigate as well the alleged payoffs involved in the PI signature drive.

“Gusto ko lang humirit. Nagulat din ako sa AKAP at mas lalo akong nagulat sa halaga, P26.7 billion. Isang programang ngayon ko lang natuklasan at ngayon lang narinig pero may bilin sa text, all soft projects including AKAP must go through the Office of the Speaker,” Marcos said.

There have been reports and actual testimonies of individuals that money or assistance was given to them in exchange for their signatures.

Marcos has mentioned before that his cousin House Speaker Martin Romualdez' office was "definitely" behind the alleged P20 million offered to congressional districts in line with the ongoing push for PI for Charter change (Cha-cha).

In a press release of the House of Representatives (HOR) dated Dec. 22, 2023, Romualdez said that Congress has included in the 2024 national budget P60-billion for a new program called AKAP under which 12 million poor and low-income families would receive a one-time financial grant of P5,000.

Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito also expressed curiosity about AKAP saying that it's the first time he heard of it.

According to DSWD Usec. Fatima Aliah Dimaporo, AKAP is also "foreign" to them. She added that this is not an exclusive project of Congress and will soon become a regular program yet it is technically foreign to them in the sense that it has no guidelines yet.

Sen. Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa was puzzled as to where the budget of the program came from given its current status. 

"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 asked.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros mentioned that the funds allocated for AKAP seem to be unprogrammed. 

“Pero ang bongga ng unprogrammed, nakadetalye na, P5,000 per family (This unprogrammed [funds] is grand, it's detailed, P5,000 per family),” Marcos said, reacting to Hontiveros’ observation.