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Neil Jayson Servallos - The Philippine Star
December 4, 2025 | 12:00am
Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson presides over the Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing on flood control anomalies on Sept. 30.
STAR / Jesse Bustos
MANILA, Philippines — Politicians may soon be prohibited from participating in the distribution of cash assistance under a special provision that Sen. Panfilo Lacson wants included in the 2026 national budget.
Stressing how social welfare programs must be protected from “political exploitation,” Lacson said he is pushing for a specific provision prohibiting any official, candidate or their representatives from being present in the distribution of aid or from influencing one, or displaying political signage or branding in the area.
Social welfare personnel who allow such involvement of politicians would face administrative sanctions.
“There must be no room for political exploitation and manipulation of the government programs in any shape or form, especially when those at the other end are already suffering,” Lacson said during the Senate’s period of amendments.
“To politicize a social welfare program is not only unjust but also inhumane,” he added.
During his interpellation on the 2026 proposed budget for the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) last month, Lacson said data trends show allocations for Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) would balloon in election years but would “stabilize” when no elections are scheduled – a pattern he described as evidence that the program is “not really intended to help the needy” but a politically driven tool to make constituents feel indebted to politicians.
Data from the DSWD showed that allocation in 2020 was at P18.2 billion and P23.5 billion in 2021, which Lacson noted as low compared to figures in 2022 – an election year – when AICS allocation ballooned to P39.7 billion.
After the 2022 elections, AICS allocations dipped to P36.818 billion in 2023 and P34.269 in 2024 but swelled again to P44.442 billion in 2025, especially during the mid-term election period.
