The national government on June 9 officially launched the “Bagong Bag para sa Mag-aaral: Presidential Assistance to Primary-Grade Learners” program, a nationwide initiative that will provide essential school supplies to two million Kindergarten to Grade 3 students throughout the school year.
The program is in line with President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.’s directive to ensure quality education by enabling children to begin the school year prepared and ready. He also made it a priority to help ease the financial burden of back-to-school expenses on Filipino families.
“We know that for many families, preparing for the school year means making sacrifices to buy school supplies and other needs. By helping the hardworking parents get their children ready for class, we are giving our kids a better start,” Executive Secretary Ralph Recto said.
“Ang bawat bag na ating ipinamimigay ay hindi lang basta school supplies. Simbolo ito ng ating paniniwala na walang batang Pilipino ang dapat mapag-iwanan dahil lamang sa kakulangan ng mga pangunahing gamit sa pag-aaral,” he added.
The ceremonial launch held at Taytay Elementary Public School marked the initial distribution of school bags and learning kits to 4,000 learners from Department of Education (DepEd)-identified public schools, as part of the program’s phased nationwide rollout.
Each beneficiary received a pre-packed school bag containing notebooks, pencils, crayons, rulers, erasers, sharpeners, and other essential learning materials.
Recto emphasized that investing in early-grade learners is a key priority of the administration, noting that foundational education plays a critical role in literacy, numeracy, classroom readiness, and long-term learning outcomes.
The program is being implemented through the Socio-Civic Projects Fund (SCPF) of the Office of the Executive Secretary (OES), in coordination with the DepEd to ensure the timely, efficient, and targeted delivery of assistance to identified beneficiaries nationwide.
It also underscores the continued coordination between the OES and DepEd in strengthening program implementation, from beneficiary identification to on-the-ground distribution, ensuring that assistance reaches intended learners across the country