00:00The Senate has already removed from their version of the 2025 budget of the DSWD the fund for the ACAP program.
00:09But the leader of the Camera, who was criticized by many minimum-wage earners,
00:14was the one who relied on the program. Sandra Aguinaldo was there.
00:21There is a dispute between the Senate and the Camera regarding the fund for the AYUDA-PARASAKAPOS income program or ACAP.
00:29This was followed by Senator Aimee Marcos' announcement, the sponsor of the budget of the DSWD,
00:34that the ACAP was already removed from the Senate version of the Senate.
00:38It's confusing. To be honest, I already removed the version of the Senate.
00:59It is said that the ACAP and the previous AICS or Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations can be unified.
01:29We don't want that, right?
01:35In 2024, the first ACAP was implemented to protect minimum-wage earners from the effects of inflation in the country.
01:44According to one of its sponsors, House Speaker Martin Romualdez,
01:48the ACAP will provide P3,000 to P5,000 assistance to qualified beneficiaries.
01:54But the ACAP is controversial.
01:56Some senators are challenging it because it was not included in the proposed 2024 budget of the DSWD
02:02and it was also not included in the previous version of the budget for the Camera and the Senate.
02:06It was just suddenly included in the version of the Bicameral Conference Committee.
02:11In the 2025 budget, the funds for this were tripled from P13 billion in 2024 to P39.8 billion for 2025.
02:23According to the Camera, the ACAP will provide assistance to minimum-wage earners who earn P21,000 or less every month.
02:32But according to the senators, this will not go to the poorest Filipinos.
02:37We don't have problems with the program in itself, but we wanted to make sure that it's clearer this time.
02:45Like what they're saying, this is for middle-class individuals.
02:52So that it's not targeted to the poorest of the poor sector of our society.
02:58Speaker Romualdez has changed his mind.
03:01He said that this fund needs a lot of people and he's ready to fight the camera.
03:06I'm a bit nervous because some of our friends in the Senate want to scrap the ACAP.
03:15Do you agree?
03:17Yes!
03:18Do you?
03:19Are we going to remove the ACAP?
03:20Yes!
03:21What do we say to the senators? Are we going to remove it?
03:25Yes!
03:26Romualdez has ordered the House Appropriations Committee
03:29to work hard to bring back the ACAP once the National Budget of the Bicameral Conference Committee has been discussed.
03:36I don't think the Senate will understand because they're not going down.
03:41What we're seeing is that this is what our fellow Filipinos want.
03:47This program from the DSWD.
03:50So I will tell our friends in the Senate to go around and ask the people what they want.
03:58What we're seeing is that our fellow Filipinos want this program.
04:05For GMA Integrated News, Sandra Aguinaldo, for Tutok, 24 hours.
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