Gatchalian commits AKAP zero budget for 2026 to be retained 

Senate finance committee chairman Sherwin Gatchalian on Wednesday vowed that he will not allow the Ayuda para sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP) to “reincarnate” in the 2026 national budget, after it got zero allocation under the National Expenditure Program (NEP). 

During the hearing of the Committee on Finance on the proposed P223.2 billion budget of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and its attached agencies for next year, Gatchalian said that the AKAP is “functionally redundant” with the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) and other financial assistance programs of the government. 

“Sayang lang, do-doble lang ‘yung binibigay natin at nagiging inefficient siya. So I hope I will get the support of our colleagues, kapag nag-reincarnate ‘to sa bicam, we will not allow AKAP to reincarnate in the bicam. That’s for sure kasi meron namang AICS,” the senator said. 

(It would be a waste of funds to have duplication of allocation as it becomes inefficient. So I hope I will get the support of our colleagues, that we will not allow AKAP to reincarnate in the bicam. That's for sure because the AICS is already existing.) 

“May proposal din sa mga colleagues natin na instead of reincarnating AKAP, we’ll just put additional funding in AICS para ma-cover natin ‘yung mga deficiencies,” he added. 

(There is also a proposal among our colleagues that instead of reincarnating AKAP, we'll just put additional funding in AICS so that we can cover the deficiencies.) 

AKAP is the assistance program for minimum-wage earners that stirred some controversy over its P26-billion allocation in the 2025 General Appropriations Act. But for 2026, no allocations were provided for the program under the NEP, according to Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman. 

DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian, brother of Win Gatchalian, said that he will leave it up to the Senate and the House of Representatives to work on the policy on the national budget.

“We will always abide by what the policymakers come up with in the budget season. Whenever we get the GAA, we are dealt with cards that we have to make do with,” the DSWD chief said.—LDF, GMA Integrated News