Two of the highest-ranking officials in the Philippine government will be in Dumaguete City on Friday, August 14, for separate national programs running through the same morning — Executive Secretary Ralph G. Recto leading a series of distributions, and House Speaker Faustino "Bojie" G. Dy III bringing the House of Representatives' legislative consultation program to Negros Oriental State University.
Recto's Three-Venue Schedule in One Hour
Recto's activities are scheduled between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. at two venues. At the Convention Center's 3rd Floor Conference Room, he will distribute scholarship funds to 100 Presidential Scholars from Negros Oriental.
At the Convention Center's Plenary Hall, Recto will hand over Socio-Civic Projects Fund checks worth ₱200,000 each to representatives of Negros Oriental's 557 barangays, with mayors and other local officials present. He will then move to the Tinago Gymnasium to lead the distribution of rice assistance under the Local Government Support Fund to 1,776 families from Dumaguete City's Poblacion barangays.
What the ₱200,000 Barangay Checks Cover
The Socio-Civic Projects Fund is a direct assistance program of the Office of the President, rolled out under the administration's "Bawat Bayan Makikinabang" banner, which was launched at Malacañang on February 23, 2026. Each barangay receives ₱200,000 split equally into two ₱100,000 portions.
The first ₱100,000 funds barangay-identified priorities — public services, office and administrative equipment, streetlighting, and disaster risk reduction. The second ₱100,000 funds five Presidential Scholars per barangay at ₱20,000 each. The Department of the Interior and Local Government set out the program mechanics in Memorandum Circular No. 2026-038.
For Negros Oriental's 557 barangays, total releases amount to roughly ₱111.4 million, with a potential 2,785 scholarship slots provincewide. Nationally, the program covers more than 42,000 barangays, with over 210,000 students expected to benefit.
Rice Aid Under Record LGSF Allocation
The rice distribution in Tinago is charged against the Local Government Support Fund — Financial Assistance to Local Government Units, governed by DBM-DILG Joint Circular No. 1, series of 2026, issued February 19. The 2026 national budget carries the largest LGSF allocation on record at ₱57.872 billion, of which ₱37.492 billion is for financial assistance to LGUs, with roughly half earmarked for rice.
Qualified families receive 10 kilos at a time, six times a year — 60 kilos annually. Funds are released directly to LGUs, which identify beneficiaries from their own population databases. Recto announced last month that the program had already reached about seven million families nationwide.
Speaker Dy Opens With Press Conference at NORSU
House Speaker Dy opens his Dumaguete visit at 9 a.m. at the NORSU Audio-Visual Room with a press conference alongside House Secretary General Atty. Cheloy Velicaria-Garafil. He will then move to the NORSU Gymnasium for the LegisHear: Bawat Batas Mahalaga town hall meeting with Dumaguete youth, running concurrently with Recto's Convention Center activities and concluding at noon.
Dumaguete Is LegisHear's First Visayas Stop
LegisHear is the House of Representatives' nationwide legislative consultation and oversight initiative, a flagship program of Speaker Dy and Majority Leader Ferdinand Alexander "Sandro" Marcos. It was launched July 31, 2026 at Isabela State University in Echague and grew out of the chamber's nationwide consultations on the proposed Anti-Political Dynasty Act.
A LegisHear stop typically combines a town hall meeting, discussion of specific pending bills, focus group discussions on frontline government services, an orientation on how a bill becomes law, and on-site public services. The second leg was held August 7 at Caraga State University in Butuan City, where participants weighed in on the proposed Basic Education Voucher Assistance Act, a measure upgrading the Butuan Medical Center, and the proposed KALINGA Bill. Dumaguete is the third stop and the program's first in the Visayas.
Who Recto and Dy Are
Ralph G. Recto took his oath as Executive Secretary on November 19, 2025, becoming President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s third occupant of the post — often called the "Little President." He replaced Lucas Bersamin, who resigned amid a flood control controversy, and previously served as Finance Secretary, senator, congressman for Batangas, and NEDA director-general.
Faustino "Bojie" G. Dy III, representative of Isabela's 6th District, was elected Speaker on September 17, 2025 on a nominal vote of 253, succeeding Martin Romualdez. A member of Isabela's long-established Dy political family, he previously served as mayor of Cauayan from 1992 to 2001, congressman for Isabela's 3rd District from 2001 to 2010, and governor of Isabela from 2010 to 2019.
Organizers note that schedules released as of Wednesday afternoon may still change.
By the Numbers
- 557 — Negros Oriental barangays receiving ₱200,000 checks each
- ₱111.4 million — estimated total Socio-Civic Projects Fund release for Negros Oriental
- 2,785 — potential scholarship slots provincewide (five per barangay)
- 100 — Presidential Scholars from Negros Oriental receiving scholarship funds directly
- 1,776 — Dumaguete Poblacion families receiving rice assistance at Tinago
- ₱20,000 — scholarship amount per Presidential Scholar per barangay
- ₱57.872 billion — record 2026 national LGSF allocation
- ₱37.492 billion — LGSF portion for financial assistance to LGUs
- 60 kilos — annual rice entitlement per qualified family (10 kg × 6 distributions)
- 7 million — families reached by the rice program nationwide, as of Recto's last month announcement
- 210,000+ — students expected to benefit from the scholarship program nationally
- 42,000+ — barangays covered by the program nationwide
- 253 — nominal votes that elected Dy as Speaker on September 17, 2025
Why This Matters
Friday's visits bring significant direct government transfers to Negros Oriental — an estimated ₱111.4 million in barangay fund releases, scholarships for up to 2,785 students, and rice aid for 1,776 Dumaguete families in a single morning. The LegisHear consultation at NORSU marks the program's first stop in the Visayas, giving Dumaguete youth a formal platform to engage with national legislators on pending legislation. The simultaneous presence of the Executive Secretary and the House Speaker in one provincial city underscores the administration's rollout of its flagship community assistance programs beyond Metro Manila.
Photo credit: Photo courtesy of the Office of the Executive Secretary