Comelec mulls ban on all 'ayuda' 10 days before Eleksyon 2025

A committee of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is proposing to ban the distribution of all government cash assistance (ayuda) ten days ahead of Eleksyon 2025.

Comelec chairman George Erwin Garcia said the Comelec en banc was studying the proposal of the Committee on Kontra-Bigay, headed by Commissioner Ernesto Maceda Jr. 

“Ang committee…ay nagpupursige na ang lahat ng klase ng ayuda  ay ipagbawal. ‘Yan ay ating pinag-aaralan sapagkat may implication din yan sa ating mga kababayan na umaasa sa mga ayuda na yan,” Garcia said. 

(The committee wants to ban the distribution of all ayuda. We are studying the proposal because it will have implications for those who need the cash assistance.)

The Comelec at present is prohibiting the disbursement of the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) ten days before the elections.

Garcia said the poll committee created to address vote-buying may be relaunched on Wednesday, February 5, 2025. 

Earlier, Garcia said the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) requested the poll body to exempt another P12 billion worth of Ayuda Para sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP) funds from the election spending ban for Eleksyon 2025.

This is on top of the P882-million exemption that the poll body already granted earlier this month.

Some members of Congress, including Senator Imee Marcos, specifically raised concerns about the P26-billion funding for AKAP, which President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. retained in the 2025 national budget.

Leaders of the House of Representatives had previously dismissed claims that the program was being used as a political tool ahead of the May 2025 elections.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development earlier said that it is tightening its guidelines in implementing AKAP to ensure that it would not be used for political gains.  –NB, GMA Integrated News

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