Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 19)— Families earning no more than ₱23,000 monthly could receive one-time cash assistance of ₱5,000 through the ‘Ayuda sa Kapos sa Kita Program’ (AKAP) under the proposed 2024 national budget.
House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez on Tuesday said the program is one of the ₱500 billion social amelioration programs that seek to support 12 million low-income families or an estimated 48 million Filipinos.
\”It’s a ₱60-billion fund, whose aim is to provide direct cash assistance to the ‘near poor’ or families earning up to ₱23,000 a month,\” Romualdez said.
\”At least 12 million households will benefit from it, including low-income workers like those in construction and factories, drivers, food service crew, and the like,\” he added.
The speaker said if the program is successful, it will continue to be implemented next year.
The other social amelioration programs include budgets of ₱23 billion for Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) under the Department of Social Welfare and Development, and ₱30 billion for Tulong Pang-hanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) under the Department of Labor and Employment.
Also among the programs, farmers are set to get ₱5 billion worth of support for farm inputs like seeds, fertilizers, and irrigation. Romualdez said another ₱5 billion is earmarked to buy farmers’ produce at market prices.
He added that ₱80 billion has also been allocated to the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) to \”build more dams, water reservoirs, and solar irrigation systems.\”
Meanwhile, construction has started on new facilities or expansion of existing ones in legacy hospitals, with work set to be finished within three years, Romualez added.
\”For 2024, we have appropriated ₱1 billion for UP-Philippine General Hospital, ₱1.5 billion for National Kidney and Transplant Institute, ₱1 billion for Philippine Cancer Center, P1 billion for Philippine Children’s Medical Center, ₱1 billion for Bicol Regional Medical Center, and ₱500 million for Batangas Regional Medical Center,\” Romualdez said.
The other programs that are said to support the 48 million low-income Filipinos are housing projects with amortization of ₱2,500 to ₱3,500 a month; ₱1.5 billion for the expansion of the Pag-asa Island airport; and an ₱800 million budget for shelter port construction for fishermen and boats in Lawak, Palawan near Ayungin Shoal.
\”We are hoping that in some way, we are able to support people who badly need government help to get them through hard times,\” the speaker said.
