Malolos City—Some 5,000 city residents received over the weekend goodies as a Christmas present from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), signalling the roll out of the state-run firm’s nationwide Bawat Buhay Mahalaga (BBM) Serbisyo Caravan.
The two-day event held at the Bulacan Capitol Gymnasium was inspired by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s pledge to bring government services closer to local communities, according to PAGCOR chairman and chief executive officer Alejandro Tengco,
“Today, Christmas comes early to the people and the province of Bulacan because we will be giving away gifts that will last beyond Christmas – life-changing gifts because they will serve as a new beginning for our people,” Tengco said during the launch.
“Ito ang kauna-unahang caravan na ating inilunsad sa ilalim ng ating pamamahala (This is the first ever caravan that we launched under my administration),” he told the packed crowd at the capitol gymnasium.
PAGCOR has allocated P50 million for the caravan launch alone. The affair covered educational grants for 2,000 students, livelihood packages for 45 sari-sari stores, more than 4,000 bicycle for individual recipients, and P5 million worth of hospital equipment for the Bulacan Medical Center.
There were also wheelchairs, medicines, food packs as well as reading glasses and canes for senior citizens, on top of free medical and dental consultations during the two-day event.
Tengco said the educational grant for 2,000 students will cover both college and technical-vocational studies. The scholars will each receive P10,000 every year.
“Isanlibo po sa mga iskolar na ito ay manggagaling sa vocational schools bilang pagpapakita ng ating suporta at pagkilala sa kahalagahan ng vocational and technical education sa pangkalahatang pag-unlad ng ating mga industriya (One thousand of these scholars will come from vocational schools as a gesture of our support and recognition of the significance of vocational and technical education to the overall development of our industries),” Tengco said.