CASH assistance under the government’s Ayuda Para sa Kapos and Kita Program (AKAP) is exempted from the election spending ban being implemented by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) with specific limitations.
The Comelec made this clarification in a memorandum order issued by chairman George Erwin Garcia upon request by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) relative to the disbursement of P882 million out of the P12.63-billion AKAP funds during the election period.
The order was in response to the Jan. 16, 2025 request of Social Welfare and Development Secretary Rex Gatchalian.
The Comelec approved the DSWD’s earlier request to exempt the P882-million AKAP funding and its 27 other programs from the election spending prohibitions.
Under the Omnibus Election Code, distributing social services or cash assistance is not allowed 45 days before a regular election.
However, Garcia’s order stipulated that the exemption request “must not include the distribution by incumbent officials and candidates of Ayuda, TUPAD (Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers), AKAP, AICS (Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations), and 4Ps (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program) from May 2, 2025 to May 12, 2025, with the exception of medical and burial assistance typically provided to eligible individuals.”
The Comelec pointed out that no incumbent officials, aspirants, or candidates shall be present in the distribution of Akap and other social services.
The other DSWD programs granted exemption covered the Sustainable Livelihood Program (P216,125,000); Services for Residential and Center-based Clients (P2,125,467,125.25); Supplementary Feeding Program (P1,187,351,574.08)
Social Pension for Indigent Senior Citizens (15,371,768,260.74); and the Protective Services for Individuals and Families in Especially Difficult Circumstances – PROPER (P5,400,000).
Also exempted are the Recovery and Reintegration Program for Trafficked Persons (P1,232,000), Assistance to Persons with Disability and Senior Citizens (1,499,575); LAWA and BINHI Project (Local Adaptation to Water Access-Breaking Insufficiency through Nutritious Harvest for the Impoverished) (P503,608,723); KALAHI-CIDSS-KKB for Community Driven and Development (CDD) projects and Cash for Work (CFW) programs (P98,386,122); Philippines Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Project (P28,287,223.85) and the Liwanag at Tubig Assistance Welfare (P100,000,000).