URDANETA CITY: Vice President Sara Duterte has urged the public to support the newly elected barangay officials to sustain development in the country.

She said the barangay (village) officials are the representatives of the community and having a united society contributes to its development and growth.

This was her message to the people of Urdaneta City during a gift-giving activity on November 25.

She also conveyed the message that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is thankful for the people’s support to the Chief Executive’s eight-point agenda.

She also thanked the people of Pangasinan for supporting the Duterte family and their leadership, especially to his father, former president Rodrigo Duterte.

The vice president also urged the people not to support the communist New People’s Army (NPA) and not to engage in illegal drugs.

Duterte led the distribution of gift packs to more than 2,500 indigent families at the Urdaneta Sports Complex and some 1,500 Binalonan residents at the Ramon Guico Sr. Sports Complex on Saturday. She also sent gift packs to 580 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) at the Bureau of Jail Management Penology (BJMP) in Urdaneta City and led the distribution of P2,000 cash assistance to 518 residents under the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) at the Magic Urdaneta MMX Event Center.