1Sambayan, Sanlakas and other individuals have urged the Supreme Court to prohibit the national government from enforcing provisions in the General Appropriations Act for 2025 or Republic Act No. 12116 concerning the Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program or AKAP.

 In the petition for certiorari with prayer for a temporary restraining order, 1Sambayan stressed that in the distribution of P26.159 billion AKAP funds, there was no prohibition against the intervention of congressmen and senators, paving the way for their participation in the program of the executive branch of the government.

 Among the petitioners were 1Sambayan representative and former Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, Sanlakas representative Marie Marguerite Lopez, Advocates for National Interest, former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales, Cielo Magno, Dante Gatmaytan and Ma. Dominga Padilla.

 Respondents are the Senate, House of Representatives, Office of the Executive Secretary, Department of Budget and Management, Department of Finance, Department of Public Works and Highways. 

DSWD sets stricter AKAP guidelines amid fears of misuse

 The petitioners said that the 2025 GAA has the “badges of a congressional pork barrel.”

 They noted that in Belgica vs. Ochoa, the Supreme Court defined pork barrel as a kind of lump-sum, discretionary funds wherein legislators are able to control the fund’s utilization.

 “Respondents try to play down such participation by claiming that the endorsement or referrals of individual beneficiaries may still be overruled by officers of the Executive branch on the basis of certain parameters. However, it is clear from Belgica that the participation of lawmakers being “merely recommendatory” does not alter its unconstitutional tenor,” the petitioners said. 

The petitioners further noted that Senate Finance Committee Chairperson Senator Grace Poe and officials of the Department of Social Welfare and Development “freely admitted” that congressmen and senators can participate in the implementation of AKAP by identifying, endorsing and referring the specific individual beneficiaries.

 The petitioners stressed that the Department of Social Welfare and Development had vowed to make sure that only those who are below minimum wage earners will be given AKAP.

 “Evidently, through the glaring omission of safeguards in the 2025 GAA, Congress practically assigned to the Executive and Judicial branches of government such task of legislating the prohibition against the unconstitutional misuse of the funds,” the petitioners said. 

Mas mahigpit na patakaran sa pagkuha ng tulong sa AKAP, ipatutupad

 “By seeking to introduce prohibitions that supposedly address the issue of the politicking of the distribution of AKAP funds, the Executive branch encroaches on the lawmaking power of Congress to fill in the gaps,” the petitioners added.

 In their petition, the petitioners also asked the Supreme Court to declare as unconstitutional the provisions of the 2025 GAA which gave a lower budget for the education sector as well as the zero subsidy for the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation or PhilHealth.