Butuan City punong barangay thankful to BBM for scholarship, e-bike
By Renelle L. Escuadro
BUTUAN CITY (PIA) — Fernan B. Rivero Sr., punong barangay of Obrero in Butuan City, thanked President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. for bringing Bawat Barangay Makikinabang (BBM) to his community.
During an interview with the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Caraga, Rivero shared that the BBM program has provided the barangay council with a total of P200,000 under the Socio-Civic Projects Fund (SCPF).
The barangay official disclosed that half of the fund was allocated as educational assistance. “Barangay Obrero has five Presidential scholars who each received the amount of P20,000.”
“It helped the students take care of their educational expenses, inspiring them to persevere and finish their schooling,” Rivero said.
He also said that the remaining P100,000 was used to purchase an electronic bike (e-bike) to strengthen peace and order efforts in the community.
The e-bike is used by the barangay tanods, a community-based brigade formed at the barangay level by civilian volunteers tasked with patrolling the neighborhood, managing traffic, performing community surveillance, and aiding local health and public safety programs.
“With the e-bike, our tanods can visit more places within our territorial jurisdiction, and they can respond faster and better, especially that this vehicle is a big help to their mobility,” Rivero added.
“Nagpasalamat mi ug dako kay kini inga programa dali ug direkta nga gihatag sa gobyerno sa barangay, ug dali pod namo nagamit para sa katawhan. (We are thankful because this program was directly given by the government to the barangay and we were able to promptly utilize the funds to benefit our community),” the punong barangay told PIA.
Rivero commended the administration of President Marcos Jr. for this cost-effective initiative. “Unlike other government assistance, the SCPF empowered the barangay leaders to effectively implement programs, while bringing the national government closer to the communities.” (RLE, PIA Dinagat Islands)
