Masbate Town to Benefit from KALAHI-CIDSS

Legazpi City (5 April) -- The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Bikol, Provincial Government of Masbate and Municipal Government of Cawayan penned recently the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for the implementation of the poverty reduction project Kapit-bisig Laban sa Kahirapan Community Integrated Development and Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS) in Cawayan town.

DSWD Assistant Regional Director Evelyn Lontok was joined by Masbate Governor Elisa T. Kho, Cawayan Mayor Edgar S. Condor, Vice Mayor Ramon Abinuman and officials from the provincial government of Masbate.

Governor Kho said that communities from Cawayan should continue to support the programs and projects of the government especially the DSWD's KALAHI-CIDSS and 4Ps or the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.

"The people should be involved right from the start of the project because the people from the barangays are our partners in development. All of us have a very important role for the success of this project," Kho enthused.

Mayor Condor expressed gratitude for selecting Cawayan as the only municipality in Bicol for the additional 16 municipalities to implement KALAHI-CIDSS. Adding 16 more to the original 184 municipalities was a directive from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during her visit in Arakan, North Cotabato last year. Cawayan will receive P16 million grant fund from KALAHI this year.

Condor affirmed his counterpart funding amounting to P8.1 million for the implementation of KALAHI-CIDSS in his municipality this year. "I am confident that with the support of the barangay officials and commitment from the community, Cawayan will pursue the goals of KALAHI-CIDSS which are to reduce poverty, improve local governance and empower communities," Condor said.

Meanwhile, the Regional Project Management Team (RPMT) is in the process of selecting additional areas and negotiating the further expansion of KALAHI-CIDSS in the next three years. The DSWD in Bicol initiated screening of additional municipalities for KALAHI-CIDSS, adding five more additional areas, which are being assessed by the RPMT.

Considered for inclusion are the towns that are "currently covered by the DSWD's 4Ps program" with "no previous arrangement with KALAHI-CIDSS" and those that have a "poverty incidence of 50 per cent and above," said Regional Director Remia T. Tapispisan.

The percentage of poverty incidence of municipalities is based on the 2003 Small Area Poverty Estimates released by the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB).

The municipalities already assessed were Dimasalang, Mobo, Palanas, Milagros, Balud, Mandaon, Placer and Cataingan.

KALAHI-CIDSS project in the Bicol region has funded a total of 667 community infrastructures. Projects that responded to the people's prioritized problems from 2003 to 2009 in the amount of P779,668,600.26. Over 160,065 household beneficiaries presently reap benefits from the project.

KALAHI-CIDSS is the largest poverty alleviation portfolio of the World Bank (WB) in the Philippines. (KCRSMO-DSWD/PIA)