Weaponizing Aid: How Political Patronage in the form of "assistance"
Robs Filipinos of Dignity and Progress
“The capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them,” Lenin once declared. However, in the Philippines, the ruling class does not sell the rope—they buy it with the people’s own money and use it to bind the poor in humiliating dependence. Under the guise of programs like the "Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program" (AKAP), introduced by the House of Representatives under Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, the political elite exploit the suffering of the masses to secure their own power. With midterm elections fast approaching, this “assistance” reveals itself for what it truly is: a calculated scheme to trade crumbs for votes.
claiming to provide assistance to the “poor” and “near-poor,” these assistance "programs" have short-term benefit to its beneficiaries, yet it is difficult to ignore the program’s timing such as in a time these solons acting desperate for votes. Couched as a lifeline for marginalized Filipinos, such initiatives appear designed to secure votes under the pretext of public service.
The people watch as their taxes—funds meant to build hospitals, improve education, and uplift communities—are diverted into the hands of politicians. In return, these funds are handed back to the people not as a right, but as charity. Recently, the partnership between PhilHealth, the Development Bank of the Philippines, and the Tingog Party-list—led by the House Speaker’s wife, Rep. Yedda Romualdez—further exposed this dynamic. Health initiatives that belong under the Department of Health (DOH) or institutions like the still-problematic Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) are instead wielded as political leverage, ensuring the ruling class parades as benefactors while institutions rot from neglect.
And so, the people queue in submission: at the offices of congressmen, at the gates of governors, at the doors of mayors. A sick mother begs for hospital funds. A grieving father clutches burial receipts. A young worker pleads for financial relief. All are made to kneel, reduced to beggars asking for what was always theirs.
This is not aid—it is theft disguised as generosity. The rope is paid for by the people, yet the ruling class holds it taut. They bind the masses with "debts of gratitude" that "moralises" patronage politics as well as silence dissent and chain the poor to their oppressors. These dynasties ensure that poverty persists, for their power thrives on its existence. They pretend to alleviate suffering but never confront its roots: corruption, inequality, and the hoarding of wealth.
And yet, the people know the truth. Public funds are not the personal wealth of politicians. Health funds belong to hospitals and patients. Aid for the poor belongs to institutions like the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). Sports programs belong under proper agencies—not as tokens distributed for political favor. The billions lost to patronage politics could build schools, fund clinics, and create industries, but instead they are funneled into vote-buying campaigns.
As the elections approach, the people must decide: will they continue to bow before the hands that stole from them? Or will they reclaim the rope, the wealth, and their dignity? Lenin’s words echo again: “The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class shall represent and repress them in parliament.” But no longer must they choose between thieves. The time has come to rise, unshackle the chains of patronage, and take back what is rightfully theirs.
The people must seize the rope from the crooks—not to be bound by it, but to hang the thieves who have plundered their futures. The wealth of the nation belongs to those who labor to build it: the farmers, the workers, the teachers, and the poor. It is they who must reclaim it.
The time for submission is over. No longer must the people endure the crumbs handed to them by a political elite that fattens itself on their suffering. Let the hospitals heal, the schools educate, and the institutions empower—all without the interference of dynasts playing gods. Let the rope of patronage become the noose of justice.
Take back the wealth. Take back the dignity.
claiming to provide assistance to the “poor” and “near-poor,” these assistance "programs" have short-term benefit to its beneficiaries, yet it is difficult to ignore the program’s timing such as in a time these solons acting desperate for votes. Couched as a lifeline for marginalized Filipinos, such initiatives appear designed to secure votes under the pretext of public service.
The people watch as their taxes—funds meant to build hospitals, improve education, and uplift communities—are diverted into the hands of politicians. In return, these funds are handed back to the people not as a right, but as charity. Recently, the partnership between PhilHealth, the Development Bank of the Philippines, and the Tingog Party-list—led by the House Speaker’s wife, Rep. Yedda Romualdez—further exposed this dynamic. Health initiatives that belong under the Department of Health (DOH) or institutions like the still-problematic Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) are instead wielded as political leverage, ensuring the ruling class parades as benefactors while institutions rot from neglect.
And so, the people queue in submission: at the offices of congressmen, at the gates of governors, at the doors of mayors. A sick mother begs for hospital funds. A grieving father clutches burial receipts. A young worker pleads for financial relief. All are made to kneel, reduced to beggars asking for what was always theirs.
This is not aid—it is theft disguised as generosity. The rope is paid for by the people, yet the ruling class holds it taut. They bind the masses with "debts of gratitude" that "moralises" patronage politics as well as silence dissent and chain the poor to their oppressors. These dynasties ensure that poverty persists, for their power thrives on its existence. They pretend to alleviate suffering but never confront its roots: corruption, inequality, and the hoarding of wealth.
And yet, the people know the truth. Public funds are not the personal wealth of politicians. Health funds belong to hospitals and patients. Aid for the poor belongs to institutions like the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). Sports programs belong under proper agencies—not as tokens distributed for political favor. The billions lost to patronage politics could build schools, fund clinics, and create industries, but instead they are funneled into vote-buying campaigns.
As the elections approach, the people must decide: will they continue to bow before the hands that stole from them? Or will they reclaim the rope, the wealth, and their dignity? Lenin’s words echo again: “The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class shall represent and repress them in parliament.” But no longer must they choose between thieves. The time has come to rise, unshackle the chains of patronage, and take back what is rightfully theirs.
The people must seize the rope from the crooks—not to be bound by it, but to hang the thieves who have plundered their futures. The wealth of the nation belongs to those who labor to build it: the farmers, the workers, the teachers, and the poor. It is they who must reclaim it.
The time for submission is over. No longer must the people endure the crumbs handed to them by a political elite that fattens itself on their suffering. Let the hospitals heal, the schools educate, and the institutions empower—all without the interference of dynasts playing gods. Let the rope of patronage become the noose of justice.
Take back the wealth. Take back the dignity.
Seize the rope and rise. For only then can the people truly break their chains.