Senator Alan Peter Cayetano on Wednesday reiterated his call for providing direct, sustainable financial aid to Filipino families, aiming to close gaps in the current targeted assistance system.
During the first day of plenary debates on the proposed 2025 budget with the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) on November 6, 2024, Cayetano pointed to the effectiveness of providing P10,000 per family, a strategy he used during the pandemic to provide relief.
“As you know, I’ve personally advocated P10,000 per Filipino family. We did that during the pandemic. Towards 2021, I personally felt na kailangan ng additional ayuda,” he said.
“So theoretically, we can actually give P10,000 per family. In fact, we can give 20 [thousand pesos] if it’s P500 billion and we have 27 [million families],” he added.
The discussion followed the statement of Senator Grace Poe, as the Chairperson of the Committee on Finance, highlighting the allocation of P591 billion in the 2025 budget for ayuda or aid.
Cayetano noted, however, that the government’s preference is for targeted assistance, which he said benefits mainly those with the right connections or those living near government offices.
“The answer last year is we’d rather have it targeted. Ang problema sa targeted, if you do not have the right padrino, the right access to media or hindi mo katabi y’ung regional office, hindi rin napupunta sa poorest of the poor [ang ayuda,]” he said.
Senator Grace Poe agreed with Cayetano’s call for more comprehensive support, acknowledging that some of the most vulnerable sectors are often overlooked under the current system.
In his remarks, Cayetano also expressed concern that the poorest of the poor may still be left out by the existing structure and advocated for a shift toward a more inclusive and sustainable form of assistance that will empower families beyond temporary relief.
“So let me just put that on the table. At what point do we stop increasing yung ayuda and start increasing yung programs that are really for teaching people to fish?” he said.
“We’ll always need some form of ayuda. But how do we do the balance? Maybe it’s time to start that discussion if it’s not being discussed already,” he added.
