By Brian Campued
Various national and regional government agencies joined the nation in celebrating President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s 68th birthday on Saturday through the “Handog ng Pangulo: Serbisyong Sapat para sa Lahat” caravan.
The initiative, which was launched in 2024, is part of the President’s directive to expand Filipinos’ access to essential government services, various forms of assistance, and livelihood programs.
The Department of Agriculture (D.A.) opened its 100 KADIWA ng Pangulo sites nationwide to offer P20 per kilo rice and other affordable agricultural commodities not just for the vulnerable sector but also for all Filipinos under the “Benteng Bigas, Meron (BBM) Na” Program.
The D.A. also distributed assistance, including machinery and inputs, to farmers and fisherfolk across several regions.
“This is President Marcos’ birthday gift to the Filipino people,” Agriculture Sec. Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said in a press release.
The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), meanwhile, condoned P1.636 billion in agrarian debts of about 14,670 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) through a simultaneous distribution of 16,964.44 hectares of land across the country.
“This is our way of greeting our President on his birthday and expressing our gratitude for putting the country’s agrarian reform program at the forefront of his administration’s anti-poverty agenda,” DAR Sec. Conrado Estrella III said.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) also held a simultaneous nationwide redemption activity for beneficiaries of the Walang Gutom Program (WGP) along with the opening of the Walang Gutom Kitchen, deployment of mobile kitchens, and distribution of family food packs.
Other DSWD initiatives brought closer to Filipinos across the country as part of the Handog ng Pangulo caravan include the payout for Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) beneficiaries; turnover of pathways, access roads, daycare centers, health stations, and drainage canals under the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS); and the launching of the Love Bus, Libreng Sakay program in the National Capital Region.
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) also held simultaneous job fairs across the country, with over 98,282 vacancies, both local and overseas offered to job seekers.
DOLE’s regional offices likewise led the distribution of financial assistance and payouts to beneficiaries of various agency programs such as its Government Internship Program (GIP), Special Program for the Employment of Students (SPES), Adjustment Measures Program (AMP) nationwide, Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged Workers (TUPAD), and the Integrated Livelihood Program (DILP).
The Department of Health (DOH), through its hospitals, offered outpatient services, including newborn screening; school-based immunization; distribution of health commodities; active case finding for tuberculosis; mobile X-ray; glucose, uric acid, and cholesterol testing; HIV screening; and deworming.
It also offered family planning services, nutrition counseling, maternal services, oral health services, mental health consultation, dental services, laboratory tests, and eye screening.
The DOH said at least 13,000 from Luzon benefited from the health services, 5,000 in the Visayas, and 18,000 in Mindanao.
Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Sec. Hans Leo Cacdac, meanwhile, led the Handog ng Pangulo caravan in Ilocos Sur—offering health, livelihood, education, job, and welfare assistance to around 4,000 participants, including 172 overseas Filipino workers and their families.
-jpv
