SEN. Grace Poe said the conditional implementation of the Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP) program would be done judiciously.
AKAP provides cash assistance to minimum wage earners and near-poor Filipinos to help them cope with inflation.
“By refining its guidelines, we ensure that over 4 million low-income earners, including minimum-wage workers and those in the informal sector, continue to receive the support they need,” Poe said in a statement on Monday.
“Wealth transfer programs must always be subject to strict oversight, and through the president’s convergence mandate, AKAP will be better positioned to serve as a genuine social safety net,” she added.
The senator made the remark following the move of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to subject the AKAP’s implementation to the convergence program of three national agencies: the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the Department of Labor and Employment and the National Economic and Development Authority.
The president on Monday signed the P6.326-trillion national budget for 2025 but vetoed P194 billion worth of line items that he deemed “inconsistent with the administration’s priority programs.”
The 2025 national budget, initially amounting to P6.352 trillion, was reduced to P6.326 trillion following the veto of the P194 billion worth of line items.
Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman on Monday said the AKAP budget remains but will only be released once the guidelines have been finalized and met by concerned agencies.
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