THE government’s cash assistance program Ayuda Para sa Kapos ang Kita Program (Akap) would require beneficiaries to present their national IDs to prevent duplication as well as include triggers to release the cash aid.

The controversial Akap was retained in the P6.326-trillion national budget for 2025 and will be receiving P26.5 billion but under “conditional implementation.”

Based on the President’s veto message on the 2025 General Appropriations Act, the implementation of Akap shall be in strict compliance with pertinent laws, rules, regulations and jurisprudence, and in accordance with the guidelines to be issued jointly by the Departments of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and Labor and Employment (DOLE) and National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

As such, the guidelines are being finalized by the agencies and are expected to be issued by the end of the month.

Budget Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman said, although not yet final, that Neda Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan wanted to require beneficiaries’ national IDs to confirm their identities and prevent duplication.

As Akap intends to address the strain posed by rising inflation on the financial capacity of those who earn less than minimum wage, Pangandaman said the agencies should also consider adding a trigger before the cash assistance is released.

Similar to the Department of Transportation’s program where fuel subsidy is provided amid high gasoline prices, inflation should also be at a high level before cash assistance will be extended to those financially struggling, Pangandaman said.

Inflation accelerated to 2.9 percent in December 2024 while the full-year 2024 rate settled at 3.2 percent. The DBM chief also supports the draft provision stating that political paraphernalia, such as tarpaulins, stickers and shirts with a politician’s name and face, are prohibited to prevent political gains. “We are listening to what the public wants and that is for the program to not be used for any political gain or campaign purposes,” Pangandaman added.

With the 2025 national budget labeled as an “election budget,” Pangandaman defended that it is the “budget of the people.”

“We can use the budget to make sure that it contributes to the overall macroeconomic targets of the national government,” she added.