7,000 Mindoreños P23M in scholarship, farm, livelihood aid

CALAPAN CITY, Oriental Mindoro — A total of 7,000 residents of Oriental Mindoro received some P23 million in scholarship, farm, and livelihood assistance.

Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez led the distribution of financial aid to qualified beneficiaries in the province under the Integrated Scholarships and Incentives Program (ISIP) for the Youth, the Start-up, Investment, Business Opportunity and Livelihood (SIBOL), and the Farmers Assistance for Recovery and Modernization (FARM) programs.

These programs were initiated alongside the Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair (BPSF) in Oriental Mindoro, expected to deliver an estimated P1.2 billion in government aid to residents of the province.

“We have expanded the list of services we offer alongside President Bongbong Marcos’s Bagong Pilipinas. Our fellow countrymen have received significant assistance from the BPSF, and we have added to it with ISIP, SIBOL, and FARM to help all sectors,” said Speaker Romualdez, leader of the 300-plus-member House of Representatives.

“These programs are our response to President Bongbong Marcos’s challenge to help our fellow citizens in all sectors. This is the essence of PBBM’s Bagong Pilipinas, leaving no Filipino behind in government service,” he added.

In recognition of Romualdez’s efforts to bring BPSF services and various forms of assistance to the province’s residents, Oriental Mindoro Governor Humerlito Dolor presented him with a special “sablay” sash, with the words “Our Beloved Friend” written in the native language.

Under the ISIP for the Youth, 2,000 students in Oriental Mindoro received P2,000 each in financial assistance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). The distribution took place at the Divine Word College of Calapan Gymnasium, with Speaker Romualdez delivering the keynote address.

Beneficiaries will also be enrolled under the Commission on Higher and Technical Education’s (CHED) Tulong Dunong Program (TDP), providing scholarship assistance of up to P15,000 per year.

The SIBOL Program provided P5,000 in financial aid to 3,000 small entrepreneurs at the Calapan Convention Center. Speaker Romualdez, joined by Dolor, Panaligan, and Calapan Mayor Marilou Flores-Morillo, spearheaded the distribution.

For the FARM Program, 2,000 farmers received P2,000 worth of cash aid each at the Bulwagang Panlalawigan Gymnasium in Calapan. Romualdez, in collaboration with the National Food Authority (NFA), Department of Agriculture (DA), and Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), initiated the program to assist struggling rice farmers and increase the government’s buffer stock of rice.

Romualdez encouraged beneficiaries to sell at least 100 kilos of their produce to help boost the government’s buffer stock for emergencies. Under the FARM program, the Department of Agriculture (DA) identifies local farmer-beneficiaries.