By Beatriz Marie D. Cruz, Reporter
CONGRESS has allotted P500 billion worth of financial assistance aimed at benefitting at least 12 million poor Filipino families in 2024, House Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez revealed on Tuesday.
“We are allocating half-a-trillion pesos, or about nine percent of the national budget, as assistance to the poor and households with insufficient income,” Mr. Romualdez said in a statement ahead of the President’s expected signing of the P5.768-trillion national budget for next year.
Under the total allocation, P60 billion is under the Ayuda sa Kapos Ang Kita (AKAP) program, according to the Speaker. Families entitled to this one-time cash assistance of P5,000 in 2024 are those with a total monthly income of not more than P23,000.
Another P23 billion has been earmarked for the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, while P30 billion will go to the Labor department’s Tulong Pang-Hanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantage/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) program.
In addition, Mr. Romualdez said P5 billion will be allocated to provide farmers with free irrigation, seeds, fertilizer, and other farm inputs. Another P5 billion is allocated for buying of farmers’ produce.
“By providing much-needed capital and buying their harvest, we will not only create jobs and assure the income of our farmers — we can ensure supply of affordable and high-quality local rice,” he said.
Also, Congress set aside P80 billion for the National Irrigation Authority (NIA) to build more dams, water reservoirs, and solar irrigation systems.
In health assistance, Mr. Romualdez said P1 billion is earmarked for the expansion of the Philippine General Hospital in Manila. A separate P1 billion is allocated for the Philippine Cancer Center, while P1.5 billion will be given to the National Kidney and Transplant Institute.
The Philippine Children’s Medical Center and Bicol Regional Medical Center will each receive P1 billion, while P500 million will go to the Batangas Regional Medical Center.