A proposed bill seeking to institutionalize the policy behind the Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair (BPSF) is being drafted at the House of Representatives, according to House Deputy Secretary General Sofonias Gabonada, Jr.
Speaking at the opening of the BPSF Agency Summit at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) forum hall in Pasay City on Monday, Gabonada said one of their objectives is to pool together the minds of national government agencies and craft a “Bagong Pilipinas Bill.”
Gabonada said the draft legislative measure is being proposed to House Speaker Martin Romualdez, which would include the establishment of new BPSF service and assistance centers that would be made accessible to the public.
It would also create a mechanism where different national government agencies talk to each other about the possible convergence of there programs, noting “there are programs that really need other agencies to make it maximized, so that the government’s resources can be fully utilized.”
“(Kasama dito ang) paggawa ng mekanismo kung saan nag-uusap-usap itong mga ahensya dun sa convergence ng programa kasi may mga programa talaga na nangangailangan ng ibang ahensya to make it maximized, para ma fully utilized yung resources ng gobyerno,” he added.
“With that bill, we can ensure that there will be proper funding, there will be a proper system and there will be proper implementation of the ‘Bagong Pilipinas’ Service Fair,” he said.
Gabonada, one of the key officials overseeing the implementation of the BPSF, acknowledged that a total of 1,500 officials and staff of 78 national government agencies were responsible for the success of the BPSF that visited 21 provinces in all of the country’s regions.
At present, a total of 2.5 million families—who collectively received a total of around P10 billion worth of government programs and financial aid—already benefited in the one year that the service caravan has been operating.
Gabonada said the BPSF has gone a long way since it started last year, citing the high number of families, who benefitted from the services of the caravan. He said the three-day Agency Summit will assess the strengths and weaknesses of the BPSF.
The BPSF is an initiative of Speaker Romualdez and lawmakers upon instruction of President Marcos. They are expected to attend a fellowship dinner on Monday evening to celebrate the success of the program.
“We want to expand and improve the distribution of BPSF in our remaining provinces. We’re expecting 82 provinces, we’ve been to 21 provinces. So, this is an opportunity for the agencies to talk on a regional level because the regional directors, they are our working committee members,” Gabonada said.
The BPSF plans to go to Batangas next, and then the provinces of Cavite and Pangasinan.
