POURING AID. Department of Social Welfare and Development-10 (Northern Mindanao) staff validate the documents of beneficiaries of the “Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair” at the Bukidnon State University gymnasium in Malaybalay City on Saturday (Nov. 11, 2023). Services and aid amounting to at least PHP379 million will benefit 110,000 beneficiaries this weekend. (Photo courtesy of DSWD-10)
MANILA – About 110,000 beneficiaries will be provided with more than PHP379 million in cash assistance and government services at the Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair (BPSF) in Bukidnon province this weekend.
Bukidnon is the seventh province to enjoy the full-service caravans of 58 government agencies implementing 176 different programs and services.
“Mapalad ang Bukidnon dahil isa po kayo sa mga piling lugar na napiling pagdausan ng pinakabagong programa ng ating gobyerno, ang Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair. May ilang probinsya na rin po ang nakaranas ng ginhawa na dala ng ating Serbisyo Fair pero masasabi ko po na itong Bukidnon ang isa sa pinakamaraming beneficiaries na napadalo (Bukidnon is fortunate because you are one of the chosen areas where the newest program of the government will be held, the Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair. Some provinces have already experienced relief from the assistance provided by our Serbisyo Fair, but I think Bukidnon is among those with the highest number of beneficiaries who attended),” House of Representatives Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said at the opening of the BPSF at the Bukidnon State University in Malaybalay City on Saturday.
Romualdez, who represented President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., said the founding principle behind the BPSF is the government’s challenge to agencies to bring services to the people.
He said the aim of the BPSF, however, is not only to hasten but also to expand the delivery of all services provided by the government.
“Sa bawat lugar na mapupuntahan ng Serbisyo Fair, asahan ninyong makakatanggap kayo ng ayuda, impormasyon, at gabay sa lahat ng problemang kinakaharap ninyo kaugnay sa kalusugan, edukasyon, hanapbuhay, at marami pang iba (All areas that will be visited by the Serbisyo Fair will receive assistance, information, and guidance for all the problems you are facing on health, education, livelihood, among others),” he said.
Among the services offered in Bukidnon is a province-wide payout in all 22 local government units of the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation under the Department of Social Welfare and Development, expected to reach more than 53,000 individuals and amount to PHP105 million in cash aid.
Other cash assistance programs are the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers emergency employment by the Department of Labor and Employment, which will oversee payouts in fourth- to sixth-class municipalities.
The BPSF had been pilot-tested in Biliran and was simultaneously launched in Ilocos Norte, Camarines Sur, Leyte, and Davao de Oro in September.
Before Bukidnon, the last stop of the BPSF was in Laguna province.
Romualdez said they hope to visit all 82 provinces for the Serbisyo caravan, reaching a total of 2 million beneficiaries who will have easy access to social services; health and medical support; livelihood and educational assistance; services in regulatory functions; and other bureaucratic services.
“Hinihikayat namin kayo na sabihan ang inyong mga kaibigan at mga mahal sa buhay na antabayan ang pagdating ng Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair sa kanilang lugar at samahan kami sa pagtutulungan para mapabuti ang kalagayan ng mamamayang PIlipino. Sama-sama, babangon po tayong muli (We encourage everyone to inform your friends and loved ones to await the arrival of the BPSF in their areas, and join us in this project to improve the lives of the Filipino people. Together, we will rise again),” he said. (PNA)
