Government to Extend P60-B Cash Aid to the Poor in 2025

Editorial by Synara Credito

January 25, 2024

The Ayuda sa Kapos ng Kita (AKAP) program, a form of social amelioration or assistance, aims to benefit a minimum of 12 million poor and low-income families, equivalent to an estimated 48 million Filipinos. This is part of the proposed P5.786-trillion national budget for the upcoming year. 

The House of Representatives is expected to persist in securing funds for the new P60-billion AKAP program in 2025, Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez said Wednesday. The head of the House, commanding a 300-plus-member assembly, expressed his statement while acknowledging President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr.’s signing of the 2024 national budget.

Speaker Romualdez envisions this as an ongoing program to assist the people. Therefore, ensuring its success in the inaugural year of implementation is crucial, and he anticipates no challenges in executing AKAP. 

Further, the speaker expressed optimism for the success of AKAP in 2024, aiming for continued funding in 2025 and the forthcoming years, alongside other assistance programs outlined in the national budget.

The House leader reaffirmed his dedication to securing ample funding for the defense of the West Philippine Sea, spanning from Scarborough Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc in Zambales and Pangasinan in the north to Ayungin Shoal in Palawan in the south.

The 2024 budget includes the growth and enhancement of Pag-asa Island’s airport and the establishment of a shelter port in Lawak, the island nearest to Ayungin Shoal, with an allocation of P1.5 billion.

The leader of the House urged national agencies and local government units to prepare themselves for the execution of the 2024 national spending program. He emphasized that the budget constitutes the most crucial legislation annually passed by Congress and subsequently signed into law by the President.

For the most part, this budget serves not just economic growth and development but also national progress, creating more employment, job, and income opportunities, and, in a broader sense, enhancing the well-being of our citizens.