Speaker Martin Romualdez leads the opening of Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair (BPSF) Saturday morning at Botolan People's Plaza, Botolan, Zambales. (Speaker’s office)

House Speaker Martin Romualdez was on hand in Botolan, Zambales on Saturday morning, Jan. 27 to launch the two-day Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair (BPSF). 

Romualdez, who served as the keynote speaker of the BPSF opening ceremony, represented President Marcos during the event. 

“As instructed by President Marcos, we are here to bring government services and programs closer to the people. We thank all the people behind this service caravan that has benefitted so many Filipinos so far,” Romualdez, the leader of the 300-plus strong chamber, said. 

“When we started the Serbisyo Fair last year, we never imagined that it would be a resounding success like what we’ve seen in the provinces we’ve visited. Kaya patuloy natin itong gagawin sa mga susunod na buwan dahil nakikita natin ang direktang benepisyo nito sa mga mamamayan,” he added. 

(We will continue to do this in the following months now that we've seen its direct benefit to the people.) 

The Zambales BPSF is the 10th installment of the all-encompassing service caravan, which aims to cover all 82 provinces nationwide. 

Zambales is the first province in Central Luzon to be visited by the program, which is partly organized by the House Speaker. 

With 46 participating national government agencies, over 170 services are being offered until Sunday for an estimated 80,000 beneficiaries during the two-day festival of services. 

A total of P500 million worth of programs and services have been brought to the province, including P154 million cash assistance. 

BPSF in Zambales (Speaker’s office)

Among the services being offered are a province-wide payout of the Department of Social Welfare and Development's (DSWD) Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) in all 13 municipalities. This is expected to reach over 26,000 individual beneficiaries amounting to P52 million. 

Other province-wide activities include various scholarship programs of Commission on Education (CHEd) and livelihood assistance for various sectors in pre-identified eligible clients across Zambales under the programs of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). 

On the first night of the BPSF, a thanksgiving concert will be held at the Zambales Sports Complex, in Iba, Zambales with free admission. 

The concert is expected to draw a crowd of at least 35,000 people.