Walang maiiwan. An old adage. A simple saying.
Many have said it but so few have delivered. It's a saying that's in danger of becoming just an old fib told by leaders who fail to put their money where their mouths where. "No one will be left behind" is one of the trickiest parts of governance and the goal of delivering an inclusive, all-encompassing public service.
The trick however boils down to a leader's character. Leaders who do the work. Presidents who don't simply mouth platitudes.
Or, merely hold press conferences, but presidents with the actual energy and sincerity to do the work and pull that old adage off. "Marami ngayon umiikot. Bakit? Kasi tatakbo (sila).
Bisita sa atin, bisita sa mayor. Pero si Presidente, eto, ikot ng ikot, hindi naman siya tatakbo. At umiikot siya para harapin kayo at suklian yung suporta binigay ninyo sa nakaraan na eleksyon.
Ang pag-ikot niya ay serbisyo, hindi kampanya," Leyte Governor Jericho Petilla said to a large crowd in Palo, Leyte during President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s visit to Eastern Visayas last July 4, 2024.
And that's what President Bongbong Marcos (PBBM) has been doing since he assumed office a mere two years ago. He has been a ball of action. A whirlwind of travels not merely to press flesh, or cut ribbons, but to be a man on the ground, not a man who conducts monologues in Malacanang, but someone who punches in his daily quota of work—that tremendous job of seeing to it that government is doing its job.
That succor is being given to the poor and marginalized. Twenty-four short months into his term, PBBM's unrelenting clip of provincial trips could outlast a tireless energizer bunny. The President has already logged a staggering initial clip of 183 provincial sorties.
This is not to count the 28 foreign trips he undertook to gather foreign investments, strengthen diplomatic ties, forged bilateral alliances, and attend multilateral engagements. Just two years into his term, President Bongbong Marcos is already on track to be one of the most indefatigable presidents the nation has ever had. This year alone, PBBM has crisscrossed the entire width and breadth of the archipelago to provide assistance and livelihood programs to farmers, fisherfolk, and families hardest hit by the El Nino phenomenon.
"Sa mga pinuno ng mga ahensiya ng pamahalaang nasyonal at lokal, hinihiling ko ang inyong pakikiisa upang makamit natin ang hangarin na walang maiiwan sa paglalakbay tungo sa mas maliwanag at mas maunlad na bukas," the President said as he gave away millions in aid, assistance, programs, farm implements, and livelihood kits for the people of Northern Mindanao in Iligan last May 16, 2024. With his goal of achieving higher economic growth firmly in place, PBBM is taking extra care in uplifting the lives of the poor and the marginalized, especially in the countryside. President Bongbong Marcos' zeal to improve the lives of the vulnerable went into overdrive when a large swathe of the country suffered a dry spell during this summer's El Nino onslaught.
Hit hard where farming communities and vulnerable families. To help alleviate their plight the President immediately created the Presidential Assistance for Farmers, Fisherfolk, and Families (PAFFF) program. PBBM's desire to spread government assistance and services is so all-encompassing that he extended the PAFFF to cover provinces not known for big crop production.
Places like Samar and Sulu where marginalized families likewise suffer from another kind of debilitating phenomenon—peace and order. "Hinde namin kayo iiwan sa inyong mga pagsubok, kaya kami ay namamahagi ng ayuda upang makabangon kayong muli at higit pang mapayabong ang inyong pamumuhay," he said to the marginalized farmers and fisherfolk in Sulu, last July 5, to gave millions in assistance to the province's farmers and fisherfolk affected by the recent El Nino dry spell. PBBM is the kind of leader who don't make empty promises.
Since his assumption, he has hit the ground running and has kept the funnel of aid and services to the people constantly flowing. The provision of programs and services have been likewise accelerated. As a result of PBBM's "tutok" style of leadership, the delivery of economic, financial, or material assistance from agencies, which are commonly time-consuming, have been substantially bumped up due to PBBM's regular provincial sorties.
In his swing to Eastern Visayas on July 4, the President brought with him a big chunk of the executive branch. As he gave millions in assistance to the rural folk and marginalized families in the Southern Leyte, Biliran, Leyte, and the three Samar provinces, the Labor Department was also with him to provide emergency jobs and livelihood to hundreds of marginalized workers in the region. The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) gave starter kits and skills training for some of the region's workforce while the Department of Agriculture handed out farm inputs, tools, and equipment while the Trade Department handed out small business opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs.
The President, however, is not merely doing the obvious. Over and above his presidential trips to provide aid and services are his big-picture programs. These are the goals and projects that turn the engine of our economic growth and likewise churn the gyres of large-scale infra projects and move the large wheels of regional development.
These development programs, in turn, move the smaller wheels of community assistance, the provision of materiel aid, livelihood and capacity building assistance, and aid for the marginalized and vulnerable. A sector that PBBM has already served and reached in the hundreds of thousands in just his sophomore year. And, neither is the President's dizzying provincial sorties confined to providing in situ economic and financial assistance.
His trips also include addressing fundamental social issues such as fast tracking the agrarian reform program so that the millions of still landless families may eventually have their own lands thereby fulfilling government's long goal of attaining social equity and justice especially for the poor in the countryside. A mere third way into his term, President Bongbong Marcos has already awarded thousands of Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) to beneficiaries of the government's agrarian reform program. PBBM has vowed to give one million CLOAs to farmers by the time he steps down in 2028.
"Ito ay katuparan ng ating pangako na suyurin ang buong bansa at ang bawat lalawigan upang palakasin ang hanay ng ating mga magsasaka. Maliban sa paghahandog ng inyong mga titulo layon din namin makita ng personal ang kalagayan ng inyong mga kumunidad upang lubos naming (mabawasan) ang inyong mga pangangailangan at magawa agad ito ng paraan at bigyan agad ito ng solusyon," PBBM said. That's a president who does what he says.
A leader who don't just mouth platitudes. One who does the actual work in that herculean task of lifting everybody up..
