By Jose Cielito Reganit | Philippine News Agency
The Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair (BPSF), the flagship program of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. that brings government service and assistance directly to the people, is rolling out a total of P286 million to around 30,000 beneficiaries in Cagayan de Oro City (CDO) from Thursday to Friday.
Speaker Martin G. Romualdez, representing President Marcos, led the opening of the 17th installment of the Service Caravan that aims to bring government services and financial aid programs closer to the people in all 82 provinces in the country, at the University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines (USTP) gymnasium.
“Ito po ang hangarin ng ating mahal na Pangulong Marcos Jr., ang direktang benepisyo sa ating mga mamamayan. Ang gobyerno na po ang pupunta sa inyo, hatid ang daan-daang programa at mga programa sa ayuda para siguruhing lahat ng mamamayan ay kasama natin sa pag-unlad,” Romualdez said.
CDO is the sixth Mindanao area to be serviced by the BPSF, next to Zamboanga City, Bukidnon, Agusan del Norte, Sultan Kudarat, and Davao de Oro. In the following weeks, BPSF will go to Tawi-Tawi and Davao del Norte, bringing the total number of Mindanao areas served by the program to eight.
With 38 participating national government agencies, over 213 services will be offered to the 30,000 beneficiaries during the two-day festival of services.
Of the P286 million that will be rolled out, P180 million will be in the form of cash assistance.
Among the services offered by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will be a massive city-wide offsite payout across all barangays that is expected to reach over 26,000 beneficiaries of the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) program amounting to P168 million.
Romualdez led the distribution of 200,000 kilos of rice to qualified beneficiaries in Cagayan de Oro City.
Coinciding with the BPSF in CDO is the launching of government programs such as Start-up, Incentives, Business Opportunity and Livelihood (SIBOL), and the Integrated Scholarship and Incentives for the Youth (ISIP for the Youth) – which seek to provide aid to struggling small entrepreneurs, and students who need assistance with the costs of higher education learning, respectively.
A total of 3,000 SIBOL beneficiaries consisting of owners of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in CDO stand to receive P5,000 each through the DSWD AICS on the second day of the BPSF. Each beneficiary would also get five kilos of rice in simple payout rites at the West Central Elementary School Gym on May 17.
For the ISIP for the Youth, some 2,000 students will receive P2,000 each in financial assistance every six months through the DSWD AICS to cover tuition and other expenses. Identified student beneficiaries will be enrolled under CHED’s Tulong Dunong Program (TDP) where students can get scholarship assistance per semester amounting to a total of P15,000.
Unemployed parents or guardians may also be enrolled in the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/ Displaced Workers (TUPAD) Program.
All identified beneficiaries will also receive five kilos of rice during the rollout at the Limketkai Center Atrium on May 17.
Meanwhile, a Pagkakaisa Concert that will be held on the second day of the BPSF in CDO is expected to draw a crowd of at least 10,000 people.