FILE PHOTO: Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin on Monday, September 23, 2024, during 2025 budget deliberations at the Senate. 鈥� Bersamins said in a statement on November 19, 2024, that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. encouraged government agencies to avoid lavish Christmas parties 鈥渋n solidarity with the millions鈥� affected by recent typhoons. Bersamins said Marcos issued the call sans a formal written order, relying on the 鈥漦indness鈥� of his fellow government workers. Photo from Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. encouraged government agencies to avoid lavish Christmas parties 鈥渋n solidarity with the millions鈥� affected by recent typhoons.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamins said Marcos issued the call sans a formal written order, relying on the 鈥漦indness鈥� of his fellow government workers.
鈥淧er the call of our President, we encourage all government agencies to avoid lavish celebrations this Christmas,鈥� Bersamin said in Filipino in a statement released Tuesday.
鈥淭his call is in solidarity with the millions of our countrymen who continue to grieve over lives, homes, and livelihoods lost during the six typhoons that pummeled us in a span of less than a month,鈥� he added.
READ: Marcos: Share our Christmas gifts with typhoon victims
Marcos urged government agencies to donate instead the funds it will save from not staging grand Christmas parties to cyclone-hit communities.
Marcos also vowed that cyclone-devastated areas would feel the Christmas spirit early, in the form of relief goods and assistance to rebuild their houses and livelihoods.