House Speaker Martin Romualdez (center) addresses the crowd at Lima Park (Speaker’s office)

House Speaker Martin Romualdez said that the conduct of the Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair (BPSF) in Lipa, Batangas on Saturday, Aug. 24 was the fulfillment of a promise made by Ferdinand Marcos in 2022 when he was still campaigning for the presidency. 

In his speech during the launch of the two-day, all-encompassing service caravan, Romualdez recalled Marcos' remarks over two years ago during a campaign rally at the Aboitiz Pitch-Lima Park, the same location as Saturday's event. 

Romualdez said that back then, Marcos vowed to "bring government services closer to the people". And this is exactly what the BPSF is all about. 

On Saturday, the BPSF rolled out a total of P563 million worth of government services and financial aid to over 60,000 Batangueños.  

The BPSF-Batangas is the 22nd iteration of the service caravan, which aims to reach all 82 provinces nationwide.

The Speaker said this was the second stop of the BPSF in Calabarzon, after Sta..Cruz, Laguna which the caravan visited in November 2023. 

Hosting the BPSF-Batangas was the province's favorite son, Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Ralph Recto. The former senator and House deputy speaker have high praise to Romualdez, and called him the architect of BPSF. 

Recto said Romualdez--arguably President Marcos' top ally in the legislature, if not in the entire bureaucracy--is the one who innovates the projects and programs that seek to benefit Filipinos. 

Romualdez said Saturday's event was attended by 143 House members, including former president, Pampanga 2nd district Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo; Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., and other local officials. 

In only a year since its launching, more than P10 billion worth of assistance have been provided to 2.5 million families across the country.