DSWD, DOLE admit AKAP has no list of beneficiaries

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. earlier placed the P26-billion AKAP budget for 2025 under conditional implementation.

Senator Marcos said that the only qualifications that were made clear in the policy was that beneficiaries were those affected by inflation and/or earning less than their respective minimum wage. But when she asked the DOLE and DSWD if there was a list, both confirmed that this did not exist.

“Wala pong pangalan [ng mga minimum wage earner]. Ang mayroon lang po na available, ‘yung numero ng mga minimum wage… Mayroon pong process kung paano malalaman kung sino po sila,” said DOLE Undersecretary Benjo Benavides.

(There is no list of names of minimum wage earners. The only thing available is a number of how many they are. There is a process to know who they are.)

“There is no list, Madame Chair,” DSWD Undersecretary Aliah Dimaporo similarly answered. “But there are guidelines [that] will provide the requirements to avail of AKAP.”

The two departments confirmed the lack of a list despite having 4.9 million AKAP beneficiaries in 2024, according to DSWD numbers.

“It’s very, very clear, therefore, that neither NEDA [National Economic and Development Authority] nor the DOLE can come up with a list of worthy beneficiaries for AKAP,” said Marcos.

“Wala kayong kakayahan ipagtibay na ito ‘yung mga minimum wage, mahihirap, or tunay na nangangailangan,” she added. (There is no way for you to prove that these are minimum wage earners, poor, or those who are truly in need.)

A new pork barrel?

Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, who is also secretary general of the League of Cities of the Philippines, raised concerns in the hearing about how the AKAP had similarities to pork barrel, was highly politicized, and was “plagued with many irregularities.”

For one, some barangays are not equipped to measure if a resident can be classified as a low-income earner. Magalong also flagged the lack of transparency and weak data-sharing mechanism that caused redundancies.

He also claimed that some DSWD personnel are pressured to “keep silent” if a request is from a congressman’s list.

“AKAP and similar aid programs are increasingly and frustratingly politicized. Perhaps the most glaring issue is the increasing politicization of the social amelioration program. In the local governments, we are concerned when a national politician decides to have a personal appearance during aid distribution. But we have no choice but to accommodate them,” said Magalong.

“Given the way the AKAP operates, we cannot help but find similarities in the design of the AKAP and the Philippine Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) which the Supreme Court struck down in 2013 due to the following discretionary fund allocation. AKAP and pork barrel allow officials to control public funds with broad discretion, often without strict guidance or oversight,” he added.

Magalong said that while he was one with the national government in providing meaningful assistance to the country’s most vulnerable sectors, the government must create a more inclusive, efficient, and responsive social protection system that is transparent, accountable, and genuine.

Former Supreme Court associate justice Antonio Carpio, representing 1Sambayan at the hearing, recommended that DSWD should upload the list of beneficiaries under AKAP, along with the amount to be received, and the person who recommended the beneficiary.

“If it turns out that [those qualifed are the ones] only members of Congress recommended, then that will violate the prohibition that the congressman can only appropriate but cannot implement, because the implementation belongs to the executive branch,” said Carpio.

Carpio added that there was “nothing confidential” released if DSWD published this information.

“These are public funds. And the Constitution says there is a right to information by the people on matters of public concern. And of course, the most number one concern of the public is how their tax money are disbursed. So there’s nothing wrong with publishing the amount that was received,” he said. – Rappler.com