By P. Antolin
The program of Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Ayuda para sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP) was designed for those classified in the “near poor” segment in order to prevent their spiraling down below the poverty line.
According to DSWD it is designated for the “near poor” segment including minimum wage earners who are vulnerable to economic shocks such as runaway inflation that can easily send them back to poverty.
Households which have already exited from the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) are also part of the “near poor” category which need a safety net like the AKAP program to prevent them from slipping below the poverty line.
Secretary Gatchalian said that when the General Appropriations Act of 2024 put in a program such as AKAP, it was a welcome news to the DSWD “because we were already contemplating on such program”
He also recalled that sometime during the 3rd quarter of 2023, DSWD officials had a meeting with national statistician Undersecretary Claire Dennis Mapa, chair of Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) secretariat and a known poverty expert.
The DSWD chief maintained that the Legislative branch has the power of the purse and “we respect their wisdom in crafting the national budget.”
Secretary Gatchalian further stressed that not a single centavo of the AKAP budget as provided in the 2024 GAA has been spent as the DSWD is still crafting the guidelines to ensure the program’s smooth and efficient fulfillment of the agency’s mandate.
