Romualdez: P580 million in aid, services given in Zamboanga BPSF

MANILA, Philippines — At least P580 million worth of services and assistance were given by the government to 110,000 beneficiaries during the Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair (BPSF) in Zamboanga City, House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said on Friday.

Romualdez said in a statement that the fair, which brought 417 services under a single roof, shows President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s aim of bringing the government closer to the people.

“Hatid ng BPSF ang direktang serbisyo mula sa gobyerno patungo sa mga mamamayan. Mismong ang pamahalaan na ang pupunta sa lalawigan ninyo, hindi niyo na kailangang maglakbay at gumastos para pumunta sa mga sentro sa probinsya para makakuha ng serbisyo at ayuda,” Romualdez said.

(The BPSF is a direct service from the government, towards the people.  The government itself would go to your provinces, so that you would no longer need to travel and spend money for trips to provincial centers, just to get the services and the social aid.)

READ: Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair to be held in 3 Mindanao provinces 

“Ito ang pagsasabuhay ng mga hangarin ni Pangulong Marcos Jr. para sa mamamayang Pilipino, ang makakuha ng direktang serbisyo dahil ang pamahalaan ang pupunta sa kanila. This is the very essence of inclusive development and responsive governance,” he added.

(This is also in attainment of President Marcos’ goals for the Filipino people, that they get direct services because the government would reach out to them.)

According to Romualdez, of the P580 million that was given in Zamboanga City, P273 million was in the form of cash assistance — including 67,311 beneficiaries of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS), which is worth P252 million.

Romualdez also said that 355,000 kilos of rice were distributed to qualified beneficiaries in the area.

There were other activities during the fair, including the following:

• Various scholarship programs of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and the Commission on Higher Education
• Launch of the Start-up, Incentives, Business Opportunity and Livelihood (SIBOL) Program and the Integrated Scholarship and Incentives for the Youth (ISIP) Program

Romualdez’s office said 3,000 SIBOL beneficiaries in Zamboanga City received P5,000 each from the AICS Program, along with five kilograms of rice.  For the ISIP for the Youth, 3,000 students were identified as beneficiaries and given P2,000 each in financial assistance every six months through the DSWD’s AICS.

The event kicked off Friday morning at the Zamboanga City Coliseum, with Romualdez representing Marcos.  The President was at another BPSF event in Sultan Kudarat at the same time, after which he headed to General Santos City for another BPSF venue.

The BPSF in Zamboanga City also appeared to be a show of support for the House, as 85 members of the legislative chamber accompanied Romualdez and Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe, who represents Zamboanga City’s 2nd District.

Zamboanga City is also the first area in Region IX that the BPSF reached, with Romualdez promising that the fair would also make stops by Tawi-Tawi and Davao del Norte in the next few weeks.

“Ito rin ang pinakaunang lalawigan sa Region IX na ating napuntahan. At ikinagagalak kong ibalita na pupunta naman tayo sa Tawi-Tawi sa BARMM sa mga susunod na mga araw at doon ilalapit ang serbisyo ng gobyerno sa mga tao,” he said.

(This is the first province in Region IX that we visited.  And I am pleased to announce that we will go next to Tawi-Tawi in BARMM in the next few weeks, and we will bring government service to people there.)