Marcos expresses gratitude for greetings on his 69th birthday

Make this your preferred source to get more updates from this publisher on Google.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Sunday thanked those who greeted him on his 69th birthday on September 13, 2026.

“Maraming salamat sa lahat ng bumati sa aking kaarawan noong nakaraang linggo. Hindi na rin ako halos nagkaroon ng oras mag-celebrate kasama ng buong pamilya dahil dire-diretso na ang schedule mula Ilocos hanggang sa India,” Marcos said in a Facebook video.

(Thank you very much to everyone who sent their birthday wishes last week. I barely had time to celebrate with my entire family because of my packed schedule from Ilocos all the way to India.)

Marcos spent his birthday in New Delhi, India, where he was invited to participate in the 18th BRICS Summit as an outreach participant and in his capacity as 2026 ASEAN chair.

Salo-salo sa Palasyo

Similar to last year’s celebration, Marcos hosted a “Salo-Salo sa Palasyo,” opening Malacañang to the public for a special program and festivities.

More than 98 local government units from across the country attended the gathering, according to Marcos.

“Bawat frontline service agency ng gobyerno kasama, kaya parang isang malaking selebrasyon na rin ang naganap,” he said.

(Every frontline government service agency was represented, turning it into one big celebration.)

As part of the celebration, relief aid was also distributed to attendees, Marcos said.

Outreach

In his message, Marcos highlighted the expanded Zero-Balance Billing initiative launched in line with his birthday celebration.

While the Zero-Balance Billing program typically covers only ward patients, Marcos said a special exception was made at around 132 hospitals nationwide, allowing all patients to have their medical bills covered.

“Normally, mga ward patients lang ang kasama dito, pero noong araw na ‘yon nilahat na natin. Basta nasa ospital ka, anumang kwarto, bayad na ang bill ninyo,” Marcos said.

(Normally, this program only applies to ward patients, but on that day, we covered everyone. As long as you were in the hospital, regardless of the room type, your bill was paid.)

“Humigit-kumulang 132 hospitals ang kabilang dito mula sa Luzon, Visayas at Mindanao. ‘Yung iba sa kanila ay umabot na sa milyon ang hospital bill—bayad na ‘yan,” he added.

(Around 132 hospitals took part in the initiative across Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Some patients had hospital bills reaching millions of pesos, and those bills have already been paid.)

Aside from hospital assistance, Marcos said outreach initiatives were also conducted in communities and schools, providing medical checkups, free medicines and other forms of aid.

According to Marcos, the initiatives benefited around 175,565 individuals across roughly 282 participating sites. — MCG, GMA News