First Lady Brings DSWD’s AKAP, Other Gov’t Services To LGBTQIA+ Members

First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos leads the distribution of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP) and other government services to the members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA+) community on Monday (June 24) at the Mandaluyong City College of Science and Technology Gymnasium.

Some 5,000 LGBTQIA+ beneficiaries from Quezon City and the cities of Mandaluyong, Pasig and Taguig, as well as from the provinces of Laguna, Bulacan, and Cavite and from the municipality of San Mateo in Rizal province received Php5,000 each under AKAP.

The AKAP recipients are members of the LGBT Pilipinas, a grassroots alliance and national network of LGBTQIA+ individuals and organizations.

Another 1,500 beneficiaries also received food aid under the DSWD’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS).

Medical services under the First Lady’s LAB for ALL, which stands for Laboratoryo, Konsulta at Gamot Para sa Lahat, were also made available to beneficiaries in Mandaluyong City.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Pag-IBIG Fund, and Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), among other government agencies, also provided their respective programs and services to the LGBTQIA+ community.

The DSWD officials who joined the First Lady were Undersecretary for Operations Monina Josefina Romualdez, Asst. Secretary for Regional Operations Paul Ledesma, and Field Office National Capital Region Regional Director Atty. Michael Joseph Lorico.

Other top government officials attended the event led by DILG Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr; TESDA Secretary Suharto Mangudadatu; Mandaluyong Vice Mayor Carmelita Abalos; and LGBT Pilipinas National President and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) MIMAROPA Regional Director Dindi Tan.