The Bayan Bangon Muli caravan presscon on Wednesday was attended by (from left), Asec. Antonio Veloso Jr., OPAV Spokesperson Atty. Kaye Yap, Compostela Councilor Cheryl Sereño, and Asec. Atty. Mark Peter Quilaneta.
CEBU CITY, Philippines – The “Bayan Bangon Muli” caravan will be launched in Compostela, Cebu, on May 21, 2023, offering various government services for free.
Compostelanhons and residents from neighboring towns in northern Cebu could avail of job fairs, job assistance, free civil registration, and consultation, among others.
The day-long caravan, organized by the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV), the Municipality of Compostela, Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC), and the Tingog Party List aims to bring government services closer to disadvantaged and far-flung areas in the Visayas.
OPAV spokesperson Atty. Kaye Yap said the caravan, which will take place at the gymnasium of Barangay Canamucan in Compostela, will be available to walk-ins.
“Hopefully, you can really avail of these services. This is really a good opportunity for them especially if you decide to avail these services separately, it could really entail a lot of effort, money, and time. Now, that you get the chance to avail of these services for one day, this will be a good chance for those coming from far-flung areas of Cebu,” she said.
Assistant Secretary and lawyer Mark Peter Quilaenta said the caravan is also a prelude to a bigger project that they are to launch.
The caravan, he said, will be like a caravan on wheels that will be going to the different parts of the Visayas.
“This is just like testing the waters on the very first Bayan Bangon Muli project, so we will be catering to requests of LGUs (local government units) in the Visayas,” he said.
Services
The caravan launch in Compostela will be participated by the Blood Services Unit of VSMMC for the conduct of the blood drive.
Compostela Councilor Cheryl Sereño said they already listed around 80 donors for the blood-letting activity.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) will also be there to conduct free civil registration, and consultation, and to cater to requests for civil registry documents, such as birth certificates, and marriage certificates.
The PSA will also hold registration for the national ID.
The Department of Labor and Employment will also conduct job fairs in cooperation with the Phil. Association of Legitimate Service Contractors and the Cebu Contractors Association, Inc.
At least five companies have already committed to hiring workers for their vacancies.
The Social Security Services, Pag-Ibig, and PhilHealth will also be there to assist job applicants with their inquiries.
Likewise, Cebuanos who have yet to register their sim cards can also avail of assistance from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and the representatives from telecommunication companies, such as Smart, Globe, and Dito.
Other participating agencies are the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) for the information dissemination for digital job opportunities; the Philippine Charity Sweepstake Office for assistance on the application of medical access programs; the Bureau of Internal Revenue for TIN application and other BIR inquiries, and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) which will be offering free training and seminars.
Yap said the launching of the Bayan Bangon Muli caravan in Compostela is just the first of the series of caravans the government will hold for far-flung and disadvantaged areas in the Visayas.
“This is just our launch of the first Bayan Bangon Muli caravan. We are looking forward to more of this and we are hoping to reach more constituents as well within the province of Cebu,” she said.
“We have chosen Compostela to be the first recipient of our Bayan Bangon Muli caravan since they have donors already for the blood drive,” she added.
Asec. Antonio Veloso, Jr. also said that OPAV is currently in talks with other government agencies, such as the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Land Transportation Office for their participation in the next Bayan Bangon Muli caravans all over the region.
He said OPAV will modify the services offered by the Bayan Bangon Muli caravan based on the needs of the localities. /rcg
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