Bacolod City and other local government units in Negros Occidental marked President Ferdinand Marcos’ 66th birthday with coastal cleanups and feeding drives on Wednesday, September 13.
More than 1,000 volunteers joined a coastal cleanup in Barangay Banago, Bacolod City, to remove four truckloads or about 20,000 tons of waste.
Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said the coastal cleanup was conducted in line with the president’s wish for community service.
The Bacolod City government also conducted a dental mission to mark the president’s birthday, Benitez said.
Another coastal cleanup will also be held in Barangay Singcang in Bacolod on Saturday, September 16.
The coastal cleanups will be ongoing, Benitez said.
Benitez wished the president good health and “the wisdom and guidance of our Lord to be able to perform and govern effectively”.
Bago City marked the president’s birthday with a mangrove planting activity and coastal cleanup at Purok Batad in Barangay Sampinit Wednesday morning.
About 200 stakeholders including Cash For Work program recipients, members of various fisherfolk associations, purok presidents and tanods from barangays Sampinit, Poblacion and Calumangan, and City Environment Management Office personnel planted about 4,000 mangrove propagules and collected 15 sacks of residual waste.
In Victorias City 300 beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) celebrated the president’s birthday with a boodle fight at the Don Alejandro Acuña Yap Quiña Arts and Cultural Center.
The participants were also given food packs containing rice and canned goods.
A distribution of food packs to 338 home-based or work-from-home online workers affected by the recent power outage brought on by Typhoon Goring in Victorias City was also conducted.
Under the LAB for All (Lingap At Alagang Bayanihan) Program, several initiatives were simultaneously conducted by local governments around the country for the president’s bithday.
More than a thousand residents of barangays Bunga, Igmaya-an, Kumaliskis, and Pandanon in Don Salvador Benedicto also availed of government services, spearheaded by Negros Occidental provincial government in support of the LAB at the DSB Municipal Gymnasium Wednesday.
The beneficiaries availed of free medical and dental services conducted by the Provincial Health Office, circumcision and haircuts conducted by the Philippine Army.
The Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office and the Technology and Livelihood Development Center also led a feeding program and distributed food packs, while the Negros Occidental Language and IT Center and Negros Occidental Scholarship Program accepted applicants for scholarships.
The beneficiaries also received fresh milk and “Kabir” chickens from the Provincial Veterinary Office, NOCHP health cards, and the Provincial Environment Management Office and Office of the Provincial Agriculturist also distributed fruit tree/vegetable seedlings.
The San Carlos City government led by Mayor Renato Gustilio distributed rice packs for pedicab and motorcab drivers to mark the president’s birthday
In EB Magalona Mayor Marvin Malacon, Vice Mayor Eric Matulac, and Sangguniang Bayan members led the more than 500 officials and personnel of the municipal government in a boodle fight at the town’s pubic plaza Wednesday morning to mark the president’s birthday.*