BOTOLAN, Zambales — More than 5,000 Zambales residents benefited from the ‘Handog ng Pangulo: Serbisyong Sapat para sa Lahat’ fair held September 14 at the Botolan People’s Plaza during President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s birthday.

Dr. Beverly Lorraine C. Ho, President and CEO of PhilHealth, attended as the President’s representative and led the caravan that featured free services and assistance from various government agencies.

During the fair, the Province of Zambales was among those chosen for a live telecast to greet President Marcos. Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. led residents in the greeting along with Zambales 2^nd District Rep. Doris Maniquiz; DILG Zambales Provincial Director Melissa D. Nipal; Board Members Rundy Ebdane, Maria Cecilia F. Rafanan, Enrique Delgado, and Athena Tarongoy; Mayors Omar Ebdane and Arvin Antipolo; and provincial department heads, officials and representatives of various government agencies, and delegates from different sectors and communities of Zambales.

Among the benefits residents received from participating government agencies were:

• Free rice from the Libreng Bigas ng Pangulo program — 3,100 qualified beneficiaries each received 10 kilos of rice from the Provincial Social Welfare Development Office (PSWDO);

• Cash payout — 1,113 qualified beneficiaries received cash assistance under the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS), while one beneficiary received aid under the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD);

• Agricultural assistance — 280 farmers received farm inputs such as onion seeds, assorted vegetable seeds, plastic crates, inorganic fertilizer, biofertilizers, foliar fertilizers, soil ameliorants, knapsack sprayers, bio-logics, and PCIC indemnity insurance awards from the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Provincial Agriculture Office (PAgO);

• E-Titles — 41 residents received E-Titles under the Support to Parcelization and Individual Titling (SPLIT) program of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR);

• Irrigation subsidies — 5 irrigators’ associations were granted subsidies under the Operations and Maintenance Subsidy for Wet Crop 2025;

• TESDA allowances — 66 qualified individuals received allowances from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA);

• Barangay assistance — 103 Barangays received Special Financial Assistance to cover socio-civic projects, including Educational Assistance and Barangay-Identified Development  Priorities from the Provincial Treasury’s Office and DILG-Zambales.

Meanwhile, government agencies also provided residents with free services:

• PhilHealth — membership registration, YAKAP registration; RHU Botolan (YAKAP partner) — consultation, empanelment, and medicine prescription; Generika (GAMOT partner) — medicines;

• Department of Justice (DOJ)/Bureau of Immigration — free legal assistance;

• Public Attorney’s Office (PAO)/Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) — free legal advice, administration of oaths;

• Provincial Police Office (PPO)/National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)/Philippine National Police (PNP) — police clearance processing, license to own and possess firearms (LTOPF), distribution of IEC materials for public awareness;

• Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) — eGovPH installation and assistance;

• Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) — National ID registration;

• Land Registration Authority (LRA) — registration assistance;

• Department of Health (DOH)/Provincial Health Office (PHO) — medical services; and

• Department of Migrant Workers (DMW)/Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) — jobs and employment assistance.

Gov. Ebdane thanked all the participating agencies and offices for the free services provided, saying the ‘Handog ng Pangulo’ fair brought government closer to the people. ▲