House Speaker Martin Romualdez (3rd from right) leads the distribution under the CARD Program (Speaker’s office)

"Mr. Rice" House Speaker Martin Romualdez has done it again, this time in his home province of Leyte in the Visayas. 

Romualdez led on Saturday, June 29 the "ayuda" distribution to some 8,000 people in Leyte by way of two programs that he initiated last year: the Cash and Rice Distribution (CARD) and the Integrated Scholarship and Incentives for the Youth (ISIP for the Youth). 

Each of the beneficiaries from the two programs received P5,000 in financial assistance and rice packages. 

“Tuloy-tuloy po ang ating tulong sa mga kababayan nating nangangailangan ng ayuda mula sa vulnerable sectors at sa ating mga college students. Kayo po ang ibinilin ng ating mahal na Pangulong Bongbong Marcos Jr. sa Kongreso na tulungan at siguruhin ang kapakanan sa panahong ito,” Romualdez, leader of the 300-plus member House of Representatives, said. 

(We will continue to help our countrymen who are in need of assistance, from the vulnerable sectors to our college students. President Bongbong Marcos Jr. had asked Congress to help you and ensure your welfare at this time.) 

The CARD and ISIP distribution usually serve as side events of the Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair (BPSF), which rolls out millions of pesos in services and financial assistance to many qualified sectors in the country. 

“Pero ang dalawang programang ito ay mahalaga para sa amin sa Kongreso, kasi direktang tulong ito sa sektor ng mga qualified na mag-aaral, senior citizens, PWDs (persons with disabilities), indigenous peoples, single parents at marami pang iba,” Romualdez explained. 

(But these two programs are important to us in Congress, because these are direct assistance to the sectors of qualified students, senior citizens, PWDs, indigenous peoples, single parents, and others.) 

For the CARD program, a total of 5,000 qualified beneficiaries from Leyte each received P5,000 in financial aid through the DSWD’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) Program and 20 kilograms of rice in a simple ceremony held at the Tacloban Astrodome in Tacloban City. 

The CARD is a revolutionary program that is an initiative of Romualdez to aid those in vulnerable sectors such as the poor, indigent senior citizens, PWDs, single parents, indigenous peoples and others. 

Also an initiative of the Speaker, the ISIP for the Youth program helps deserving students in the tertiary, technical, and vocational levels cope with the strain of mounting educational expenses. 

A total of 3,000 qualified beneficiaries in Leyte each received P5,000 each, also through the DSWD’s AICS, and five kilograms of rice for free in a distribution held in Alba Hall of the Leyte Normal University. 

Identified student beneficiaries will also be enrolled under CHED’s Tulong Dunong Program (TDP) where students can get scholarship assistance per semester amounting to P15,000. 

They will also get priority slots under the Government Internship Program (GIP) for employment after graduation, and their unemployed parents or guardians may also be enrolled in the Department of Labor and Employment-Tulong Panghanapbuhay Para sa Ating Disadvantage and Displaced (DOLE-TUPAD) program.