MANILA —  An official of the Department of Social Welfare and Development on Monday admitted to the Senate Committees on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development and Finance that politicians do have a say in the distribution of the controversial Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program or AKAP.

"Babalikan ko lang. Ang sabi mo, yung first step, ay magsasubmit ng list. Saan galing yung list?" Committee Chair Imee Marcos said.

"It could be from anyone, as mentioned by the Secretary. Anyone can refer, can access the program," DSWD Undersecretary, Policy and Plans Adonis Sulit said.

"Anyone? Anyone includes the politicians that the Comelec has banned?" Marcos said.

"Yes." Sulit said. "It can include the politicians. At the end of the day, Your Honor... "

"Kayang-kaya ng MSWD, kayang-kaya ng provincial social welfare, ma-check lahat yan? Ito nga yung dole, hirap na hirap mag-produce ng minimum wage Pero yung MSWD, kaya-kaya yung lahat ng mga listahan yan?" Marcos said. "Sa dinami dami ng listahan na binibigay alin ang pipiliin? Do you accept all the lists from everyone about anything? "

"Yes, Your Honor, and we vet it according to our guidelines," Sulit said.
"But nothing in your guidelines so far indicates how you could choose? " Marcos said.

"No, it's there, Your Honor. It's just a summary of the changes, Your Honor," Sulit said.

READ: Comelec bans politicos in distribution of aid during election ban

READ: DSWD says financial aid won’t be used for politics during campaign period

Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong also shared his own information about the supposed involvement of politicians.

"Ang nakakarating pa ho sa amin, some of the DSWD personnel, ang sabi ho sa kanila basta request ni Congressman o listahan ni Congressman no question asked, silent na lang kayo. Ganun po yung nangyayari. At ang nakakalungkot, ngayon na naging mahigpit, ang lagi nilang sinasabi, ang sabi ng mga staff, ng ating mga lawmakers, Ah, yung pera ni Congressman nandoon na sa DSWD. Bibigyan na lang ho namin kayo na endorsement dalhin nyo na lang doon Huwag ko kayo mag-alala, mabibigyan po kayo basta ho galing kay kong," Magalong told the panel.

"Hindi ko po sinasabing na congressman lang po. Sinasabing ko rin po dito, pati ho governance, pati ho mayor. Ganyan din po nangyayari. Trade politics, both programs encourage a system where funds are used to benefit specific constituents. Meron pa nga ho nangyayari dyan na yung AKAP na didistribute, muntik pa hong ang ibigay sa media. Meron po ang isang mayor ho na nagbigay ho sa akin ng listahan. Pati ho mga  teachers na bigyan din, pati mga administrators na bigyan din," Magalong said.

Magalong even claimed that beneficiaries were supposedly asked to sign blank forms and got amounts lower than what they should have gotten.

Retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said while lawmakers may make recommendations as part of the general public, it will be problematic if lawmakers' recommendations make up the majority of the approved beneficiaries.

"Now if maybe 25-30% of those who recommended are members of Congress. The rest are local officials and civil society people. That will be okay. But if the overwhelming people who made the recommendations are from Congress, I think we have, something there's something wrong there. So at least everybody will be assured that this is above board,” Carpio said.

"So, that's why dito sa AKAP, inaamin nila na they accept the DSWD's meeting that they accept recommendations from members of Congress. Well, I'm willing to concede that anybody can recommend. Everybody. But if lumalabas na lahat pala na na-approve are recommended. The recommendation came from the House  eh there's something wrong there already. So that's why if we can have published by DSWD, the names, the amount, and those who recommended para  it is full transparency. So you will not be blamed also and you will not be pressured by the members of Congress because you will say, ilalabas namin dito, hindi pwede na kayo lang pagbigyan namin. We have to spread out the beneficiaries," Carpio added.

Marcos called out the DSWD for its standards in distributing AKAP.

"Ito yung problema yun, 2024, nag-upisa kayo, ang sabi, low income. Siguro maraming tao magsasabi na talagang kapus ang kita nila. Tapos severely affected by rising inflation. Palagay ko maski yung mga mayayaman aangal sa inflation. Apakalabo talaga ng 2024. So ngayon, 2025, ano na ngayon ang rationale ninyo? Pakipaliwanag," Marcos said.

"For 2025...The special provision states that it shall be individuals whose income does not exceed the statutory minimum wage and are severely affected by the rising inflation. So what we consider..." Sulit said.

"Papaano sila gagawa ng listahan below ng minimum wage, wala silang listahan ng minimum wage, mas lalong wala silang listahan ng informal, contractual, and less than minimum wage. Saan natin hahanapin yung mahihirap na yan? Depende sa congressman, sa barangay kapitan, sa senador," Marcos said.

"Well, sa amin po, in the determination and examination of the documents of the beneficiaries or the clients. So it will be up to that level of assessment by the social worker," Sulit said.

"But I'm also aware that on the ground, there's great confusion on the part of your municipal social welfare officers knowing full well that these aren't the poorest of the poor. And that millions of Filipinos will, under your very vague and confusing guidelines, would qualify. Sige, below the regional minimum wage," Marcos said.

Sulit maintained that the AKAP can be accessed by anyone with no need for intermediaries.

The National Economic and Development Authority for its part admitted they have not yet done a monitoring and evaluation of the  the impact of AKAP from 2024.