00:00The Marcos administration did not request Congress funding for ayuda para sa Kaposangkita, or ACAP,
00:07the pet cash aid program of Speaker Martin Romualdez in the proposed 2026 budget.
00:12Budget Secretary Amena Pangandaman says due to liminal fiscal space, they did not include ACAP for now.
00:18Last year, the Senate cut 39 billion pesos in ACAP funding from the proposed General Appropriations Bill for 2025 that originated from the House.
00:26But about 26 billion pesos was later restored after closed-door talks in the bicameral conference committee.
00:33It is still unclear if the 2026 House budget will include ACAP funding.
00:37Appropriations Chairperson Mika Swan Singh says in an interview that it is an ongoing discussion whether the House would fund ACAP.
00:44ACAP is a program under the Department of Social Welfare and Development that provides one-time cash assistance of up to 5,000 pesos to middle-class workers.
00:53Critics have expressed concern that ACAP funds have been used as a pork barrel of lawmakers.
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