The Ayuda Para sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP) can be used for vote buying as the May 2025 polls near, the Kabataan Partylist said on Monday, Dec. 30.
The AKAP is a cash assistance to minimum wage earners. Lawmakers agreed to allocate funding for the program.
For Kabataan, a wage hike is more suitable for struggling workers instead of AKAP.
“If Congress really cared for the welfare of the underpaid and overworked labor force, which is the main target of the AKAP, it would have legislated wage hikes and reforms… Pwede siyang [President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.] maglabas lang ng executive order at pwede nang dagdagan ang sahod, across the board, nationwide. Bakit di natin to gawin?” Kabataan Partylist spokesperson Renee Co said in a statement.
“Lumalabas na wala talagang pakialam ang mga hinalal na opisyal sa mga kababayan nating manggagawa unless magagamit nila ang suporta nila sa 2025 elections,” she stressed.
Co noted that wage hike proposals remain idle in Congress.
Marcos has signed the 2025 national budget, which includes conditional implementation for AKAP.
