LIMAY, Bataan — President Ferdinand “Bong-Bong” Marcos on Friday brought the “Kadiwa ng Pangulo” (KNP) here and showered the province with various benefits while inaugurating two important projects.
Various items were on sale from 68 sellers with rice from the National Food Authority sold at P25 per kilo and big white onions at P100 a kilo.
The president said that the Kadiwa started during the incumbency of his late father, his namesake.
“Pinag-uusap at pinag-uugnay ang mga magsasaka o nagsasaka hanggang sa palengke. Lahat ng binabayaran ng magsasaka o ng mga nasa palengke ay tinutulungan na ng gobyerno kagaya ng pag-transport at packaging para mabawasan ang presyo ng mga bilihin,” he said.
“Dahan-dahan nating inaayos ang agricultural sector dahil napakalawak nito at pataas ng pataas ang presyo ng mga bilihin. Pinupuntahan ng mga tao sa Kadiwa ang bigas na mura, asukal na mura at sibuyas na mura,” Marcos Jr. added.
Still in Limay, the president led in the distribution of various government assistance to over 1,500 beneficiaries.
Distributed were food packs and cash assistance of P5,000 for each beneficiary from the Department of Social Welfare and Development under its Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation Program.
The Department of Labor and Employment handed out negosyo carts and cash assistance worth P1.12 million to beneficiaries of Tulong sa Ating Disadvantaged Workers as well as P350,000 worth of financial assistance to students under the special program for employment of students.
The Department of Trade and Industry awarded a check of P7.5M to beneficiaries under the Small Business Corporation’s RISE UP Program while the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority distributed assistance worth P31,000 to scholar-beneficiaries under its Special Training for Employment Scholarship Program.
As concurrent secretary of the Department of Agriculture, the president handed over two farming equipment and fiber glass reinforced boats worth P2.96 million to farmers. He also awarded a P90-million check for the farm-to-market road project under the Philippine Rural Development Project.
Marcos also distributed machineries and assistance to fishermen amounting to around P4 million consisting of three marine engines, fisheries post-harvest equipment and establishment of a fry holding facility.
In Barangay Lamao, also in Limay, the president together with San Miguel Corp. president and CEO Ramon S. Ang inaugurated the SMC Global Power’s Battery Energy Storage System (BESS).
It was learned that the SMC Global Power’s BESS facility utilizes advanced lithium-ion battery technologies that capture electricity produced by renewable and non-renewable sources to store for discharge at a later time.
These technologies provide ancillary services to the grid that significantly improved its reliability by regulating fluctuations in power supply in a smart, fast and efficient manner.
Department of Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla and Bataan officials lead by Gov. Jose Enrique Garcia III, 3rd District Rep. Maria Angela Garcia and 2nd District Rep. Albert Garcia attended the inauguration.
Marcos also graced the Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge milestones ceremony at the Maritime Academy of Asia and the Pacific in Mariveles, Bataan.
The 32-kilometer Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge Project is a cable-stayed bridge that will be built over Manila Bay, with its starting point and northern terminus located at Barangay Alas-asin in Mariveles, crossing Manila Bay, and ending in the southern terminus located at Barangay Timalan Concepcion in Naic, Cavite.
The president was given a briefing inside the Motion Bridge Simulator, particularly on the significance of the project. He headed the ceremonial switching of the Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge Geotechnical Investigation Drilling during the program proper.
Governor Garcia said that the four-lane inter-island bridge project between Bataan and Cavite will cut travel time from the current five hours to 45 minutes. It will be one of the longest bridges in the nation and the world.
