THE Mandaue City Government will roll out its first-ever “Gugma sa Pasko Noche Buena Package” distribution on December 14, 2025, a program aimed at bringing holiday cheer to households across the city.
This marks the initial implementation of the Christmas food aid initiative, which seeks to ensure that families will have a complete meal to share on Christmas Eve.
The distribution will prioritize 86,000 households recorded in the City-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) census conducted in 2023.
These families will be the first to receive the assistance, while those not listed will undergo a validation process and will be included in the next round of distribution. The city targets to deliver a total of 100,000 packages, amounting to P60 million in allocation.
Each Noche Buena package, worth P600, contains staple Christmas goods such as Purefoods Chinese luncheon meat, fruit cocktail, all-purpose cream, spaghetti pack with sauce, El Rancho carne norte, El Rancho sausage, Holiday beef loaf, Holiday pork and beans, and Eden cheese for preparing traditional holiday meals.
The packages will be distributed per household, not per individual.
Mayor Thadeo Jovito “Jonkie” Ouano expressed his gratitude to the council and his hope that the project will continue even beyond his administration.
“This is per household, and even if we are no longer in position, we will still push to continue this program. We will propose to institutionalize it,” he said.
Ouano officially announced the program noting that it will be the first time in the history of Mandaue City and possibly in Cebu that all households will receive a Christmas food assistance package from the local government.
He acknowledged concerns from residents who may not be included in the census data. He assured the public that those not reflected in the list will still be validated and accommodated once verification is completed.
However, if the validation process becomes lengthy, the city may resort to a house-to-house basis to ensure that no family is left without support.
“Validation will take time, and if we insist on completing it before distribution, we could end up extending until February,” the mayor said.
“If a household is confirmed to have received nothing, we will make sure they are given one package each.”
Distribution will be carried out by barangay personnel through a coupon system. The first 10 barangays, including Paknaan and Labogon, two of the largest are set to receive their allocations beginning December 14, 2025.
The goal is to complete the distribution for the 86,000 validated households by December 19, with unvalidated households scheduled to receive their packages until before the New Year.
“This program was conceptualized after years of hearing people say that Christmas feels like just an ordinary day because they do not have enough for Noche Buena,” Ouano said, recalling conversations with residents from various barangays during his previous years in public service.
The mayor also thanked the City Council, led by Vice Mayor Glenn Bercede, for approving the funding that made the initiative possible.
He emphasized that the project will undergo adjustments and improvements for future implementation.
“This is our first time doing this, so there will be refining for the coming years. But what matters now is that every household will feel the spirit of Christmas through this program,” he added.
The "Gugma sa Pasko" program comes at a timely period for the city, following the recent impact of typhoons and earthquakes in Cebu.
With the initiative, Mandaue City aims not only to provide food on the table, but also to deliver comfort, warmth, and a sense of unity to families during the holidays. (ABC)