DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental, Nov. 29 (PIA) -- Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Sec. Martin Andanar highlighted that the government, under the current administration, has shown to the public a brand of public service anchored on “tapang at malasakit.”

Andanar cited this in a radio interview over DYIB “The Voice FM” Tanjay City on Nov. 26 where he promoted the Duterte Legacy Campaign of the government.

“Makita nato ang tapang at malasakit na panggobyerno. Duna tay gitawag na iron hand in running the country. Duna pod tay malasakit. Nitabang pod ta sa atong mga katawhan sa ilang panginahanglan adlaw-adlaw (We see a government showing courage and compassion. We can see an iron hand running the country, but at the same time, it is also compassionate to the people. We help people in their daily needs and problems),” Andanar said.

The PCOO chief cited that law and order in the country has improved under the current administration with the reduction of the nation’s crime rate by 64% and with more than 22,000 barangays cleared from illegal drug affectation.

The government has also championed peace and security with the implementation of Executive Order 70 or the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC) which institutionalized a “whole of nation” approach to address the root cause of insurgency in the country.

Aside from this, the government also passed the Bangsamoro Organic Law which paved the way for the creation of Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) that helped improve peace and order in the island of Mindanao.

Andanar also added that the government has showed compassion with the implementation of various measures that respond to the daily problems of the Filipinos.

This include the Free Tertiary Education Law that provided free tuition to more than 1.6 million Filipino college students enrolled in state universities and colleges.

Aside from this, there is also the Malasakit Center Law which established 144 Malasakit Centers in government hospitals to help indigent patients for their medical needs.

Based on the latest data, Andanar said the Malasakit Centers nationwide have served around two million Filipinos.

The government also responded to irrigation concerns of farmers with the passage of the Free Irrigation Service Act which provides free irrigation service for farmers tilling eight hectares of land and below.

Andanar said close to one million farmers have already benefitted from this program.

“Makita nato nga daghan nakinabang (We can see that many people have benefitted from these),” he said.

With this, Andanar underscored that it is important that these landmark accomplishments should be communicated to the public in the spirit of public trust and accountability. (RAL/PIA7 Negros Oriental)