The Commission on Elections (Comelec) exempted 28 Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) programs from the 2025 midterm elections’ spending ban, subject to conditions tagged for “strict compliance.”
Comelec Chairman George Garcia on Wednesday said the poll body approved exempting the Ayuda Para sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP), Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), and the Supplementary Feeding Program, among others, at the DSWD’s request.
For AKAP alone, the Comelec approved an exemption amounting to P882,974,163.33.
Garcia said the exemptions granted to DSWD programs, including those of other agencies performing similar functions, allow the “release, disbursement or expenditure of public funds” 45 days before a regular election and 30 days before a special election.
However, he stressed that politicians running for public office may not participate in distributing assistance to programs’ intended beneficiaries.
“No candidates/politicians during the distribution of ayuda in whatever nature/form,” Garcia wrote alongside the recommendation of the Comelec law department.
He noted that the Comelec should be furnished with the guidelines “as committed by the DSWD in public pronouncements” and that they should be faithfully adhered to.
The DSWD should also submit a periodic written report of the disbursements made.
The Comelec chief also said that the issuance of a certificate of exemption “shall not prevent the conduct of preliminary investigation in cases where the prohibited acts” as described in the Omnibus Election Code occur.
It can be recalled that DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian submitted the agency’s exemption request last December 19, covering the department’s “promotive and protective services programs, projects, and activities.”
Meanwhile, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) expects the guidelines for AKAP to be finalized by the end of the month, with added safeguards to ensure the efficient use of public funds.
In a media forum Wednesday, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), and the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) have already started crafting the improved guidelines of the program.
“It should be ready next week. They are finalizing it [guidelines], they just have to work on it this week. By the end of January, it would be finished,” she said in a mixture of Filipino and English.
Coordinated guidelines are needed for funds release after President Marcos placed the P26-billion AKAP budget for 2025 under conditional implementation.
AKAP is a program under the DSWD that distributes one-time cash aid to “near poor” minimum wage earners.
According to Pangandaman, “more safeguards” will be introduced, including beneficiaries’ use of the national ID for claiming the grant.
A key provision will also ban the use of tarpaulins, stickers, and T-shirts with politicians’ faces or names, to prevent any political exploitation of the program.
As this developed, House appropriations committee chair and Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Zaldy Co assured that AKAP, a cash assistance program initiated by the House of Representatives, is kickback-free and is intended for employed Filipinos who are still among the poor.
Co explained that AKAP is not a pork barrel as the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) handles the funds and identifies the recipients.
“AKAP is not a pork barrel. There is zero percent corruption. There can be no corruption because it goes directly to the people. The congressman does not handle the money; it’s the DSWD. The DSWD chooses the recipients. Corruption happens when the funds are handled, like the confidential funds,” he said in a mixture of Filipino and English.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline “Comelec exempts AKAP, 27 other DSWD programs from spending ban.”
