Sans epal, no ayuda

“NO PUBLIC officials holding elective positions, electoral candidates, politicians, political partners, or any of their representatives, except for officials having direct administrative and executive authority over the implementing agency, shall influence, be present in, participate in, or take part in the actual distribution of any cash assistance and other forms of financial aid.”

Thus, states Section 19 of RA 12314 or the 2026 General Appropriations Act.

Further, Section 20 also prohibits the display and affixing of the name, picture, image, motto, logo, color motif, initials or other symbol or graphic representation associated with any public official, whether elected or appointed, on signboards for all government programs, activities and projects. 

Covered by these prohibitions are the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s protective services for individuals and families in difficult circumstances, including the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), Ayuda para sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP), and the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) Program; the Department of Labor and Employment’s Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers Program (TUPAD); and the Department of Health’s Medical Assistance for Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients Program (MAIFIP). 

“Hindi ko papupuntahin iyong mga paymaster namin at iyong mga social worker namin habang nandoon iyong mga politiko. I think that’s a proactive measure,” Social Welfare and Development Secretary Rex Gatchalian himself declared sometime in January 2026 during a briefing on these very provisions in the 2026 GAA.

Emphatically iterating: “Well, again if (politicians) gatecrash, we can stop (the distribution). Our social workers…will not allow themselves to be used for political gains of anybody.”

What the law sought to prohibit, prospered in its very practice.

So, has there ever been a time since these prohibitions were publicized that politicians, in all levels of governance, were ever absent from all ayuda dole outs, be they 4Ps, AICS, MAIFIP, TUPAD, Cash Relief Assistance, and – in these times of oil price surges – TUPAD Tuloy Pasada to jeepney and tricycle operators and drivers’ associations?

Why, with the barangay and sangguniang kabataan elections waving, prospective candidates who have affinities – familial, entrepreneurial, or political – to the sitting mayors have made themselves all too visible, and audible – some are reportedly even given time to talk – in ayuda payouts.

Sadly, we have yet to hear of one instance that social workers stopped aid distribution due to a politician’s presence.

Shame.