From left to right: Deputy Speaker Quezon 2nd district Rep. David “Jay-jay” Suarez, Senior Deputy Speaker Pampanga 3rd district Rep. Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales Jr., and Majority Leader Zamboanga City 2nd district Rep. Manuel Jose “Mannix” Dalipe (Facebook)

Three House leaders said Wednesday, Feb. 12, that critics of the government's "ayuda" or financial assistance programs should shut up now as Fillipinos have already attested to its benefits.

Senior Deputy Speaker Dong Gonzales, Deputy Speaker Jay-jay Suarez and Majority Leader Mannix Dalipe defended the ayuda programs, which at least 80 percent of Filipinos believed helped them a lot based on Social Weather Stations (SWS) and Pulse Asia survey results.

"Pakinggan natin ang ating mga kababayan. Suportado nila ang mga social welfare program at nakakatulong ang mga ito sa kanila. Tama na at itigil na ang paninira (Let's listen to the people. They support social welfare programs, which have been helpful to them. Stop putting the ayuda programs in a bad light)," Gonzales Jr. said.

Gonzales believed no other government program has gained such a level of acceptance and support from the public in recent years.

Meanwhile, Suarez says he is happy with the results of the SWS and Pulse Asia surveys.

“We are glad that we in the House, under the leadership of Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, introduced AKAP (Ayuda sa Kapos and Kita Program) in the annual national budget last year. It is one of the ayuda mechanisms widely supported by our people, based on the surveys,” he said.

According to Dalipe, social welfare programs are a way of spreading the benefits of economic growth to the marginal sectors of the population.

“These programs are funded by taxpayers’ money, which Congress is putting to good use by helping the poor and those whose income is not enough for their daily needs,” Dalipe said.

Dalipe says the grant of financial assistance and other forms of aid also eases poverty among the poor.

In the SWS survey, 90 percent of respondents said the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) has been helpful to them. Some 88 percent said the same for the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) program.

The same SWS poll said 81 percent of respondents AKAP and Walang Gutom Program have helped them.

On the other hand, the Pulse Asia survey showed 82 percent of respondents said 4Ps “improved the financial stability of Filipinos from the lower social class.”

The same percentage of those polled declared TUPAD was “beneficial to the overall well-being of the Filipino people by providing livelihood and ensuring employment".