PBBM, DSWD chief lead rice, cash aid distribution
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and the Social Welfare and Development Secretary Rex Gatchalian, personally handed out the rice assistance and livelihood grants to the program beneficiaries at the Capiz Gymnasium in Roxas City.
In his speech, Marcos emphasized the government’s efforts to improve the lives of Filipino people during his visit to the Province of Capiz on Friday (October 6).
“Umpisa pa lamang po ito ng mga hakbangin ng gobyerno na mapaunlad ang buhay ng mga Pilipino mula sa pagpapalakas ng agrikultura ng bansa at pagpapalawig ng mga benepisyong handog ng iba pang mga sektor,” President Marcos said.
Some 1,000 beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), 679 of whom were also affected by the red tide incident in the province, each received a 25-kilo sack of premium rice.
The distributed rice is still part of the more than 42,000 sacks of rice seized by the Bureau of Customs (BOC), which was later donated to the DSWD for distribution to the ‘poorest of the poor’.
Aside from the rice assistance, President Marcos and Secretary Gatchalian distributed more than Php1.7 million in seed capital funds to six Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) Associations in the province of Capiz.
These SLPAs, composed of 122 members, are engaged in catfish production, balut production, retailing, community enterprise, and abaca trading.
The President also led the turnover of various government assistance from the Department of Agriculture (DA) and its line agencies, including the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) and the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI).
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Health (DOH), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) also handed out various forms of assistance based on their respective fields of expertise.
