Home Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez | PHOTO: Official Fb web page of the Home of Representatives of the Philippines
LEGAZPI, Albay — Speaker Martin Romualdez has urged “some senators” opposing the Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program (Akap) to speak to the folks in order that they’ll perceive its significance.
“Sure, we heard that some folks within the Senate don’t perceive [Akap’s huge impact] as a result of they hardly ever have interaction with the folks,” he informed journalists in Filipino on the sidelines of the Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Honest on Thursday.
“That’s why we’re right here visiting provinces and attending the Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Honest. Over two dozen provinces have been visited … We noticed that the folks right here need this program,” he added.
READ: Home insists on ‘ayuda’ Senate needs to defund
Romualdez urged senators to “transfer round and ask the folks what packages they need” in order that they’d know their sentiments after which requested his viewers in the event that they needed Akap, which suggests “embrace” in Filipino.
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“In order that I can inform my buddies within the Senate that they need to cease slicing the funds for Akap, which is known as a large assist for the folks, and it is extremely well-liked,” he added.
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Risk to defund
Romualdez made the remarks after the Senate committee on finance really useful the elimination of Akap funds from the proposed 2025 nationwide funds, as said within the Senate’s committee report on Home Invoice No. 10800, or the Home model of the 2025 Normal Appropriations Invoice.
The chair of the Home’s funds committee, Ako Bicol get together checklist Rep. Elizaldy Co, mentioned they’d push for the reinstatement of the P39-billion allocation for Akap in the course of the congressional bicameral convention on the funds.
“We will’t enable the administration’s most significant socialized program to vanish,” he mentioned in an announcement. “Till these households earn not less than P45,000 per individual month-to-month, Akap stays important.”
Co mentioned Akap gives a one-time P5,000 money assist to near-poor people incomes P23,000 or much less and it’s the authorities’s most significant amelioration program.
“Our folks want Akap now greater than ever. We is not going to enable this important program to be dismantled with no combat,” he added.
Constructive criticism
Different lawmakers, together with Ako Bicol get together checklist Rep. Raul Angelo Bongalon, mentioned they have been open to criticism, nevertheless it ought to be constructive.
“I’d recommend and I’d recognize it if the criticism would assist the federal government on enhance this system. As a result of for me, personally, I go to our area, our province, and I see that this system helps folks,” Bongalon mentioned in a separate interview.
“If there’s a transfer to criticize this system, possibly we must always criticize within the sense that we must always enhance this system, to not the purpose that will probably be completely eliminated, as a result of our folks will undergo,” Bongalon added.
“What we’re doing is we’re simply giving again the rightful share of those people, who’re additionally paying taxes,” he mentioned.
A lot controversy has surrounded Akap since Home leaders conceptualized it for the 2024 nationwide funds.
Sen. Imee Marcos, Romualdez’s cousin, claimed that the P26.7-billion insertion for Akap has “defunded billions of pesos in pensions for retired army and uniformed personnel in addition to authorities staff.”
However Marcos later mentioned she was unaware whether or not funds have been diverted to Akap.
On the identical time, Home Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr. mentioned Marcos was one of many senators who signed the web page containing the Akap provisions within the 2024 Normal Appropriations Funds’s committee report.
Deputy Majority Chief and ACT-CIS get together checklist Rep. Erwin Tulfo mentioned he considered the Akap when he was nonetheless secretary of the Division of Social Welfare and Improvement.
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Tulfo mentioned he had noticed that middle-class staff are sometimes uncared for or left behind in most authorities assist packages as a result of the federal government has been centered on implementing measures to assist the poor.
