Supreme Court asked to block P26-B AKAP in 2025 national budget as pork barrel

The 1Sambayan Coalition, with former Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio and former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales among the petitioners, asked the Supreme Court to block the P26.159 billion Ayuda para sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP) lodged in the 2025 General Appropriations Act. The 92-page petition argues AKAP effectively functions as pork barrel because lawmakers identify, endorse, and refer beneficiaries to DSWD, replicating the discretionary-fund structure the Court struck down in the PDAF rulings. The House and Tingog party-list, chaired by Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez (wife of then-Speaker Martin Romualdez), pushed for AKAP's restoration after the Senate had zeroed it out.