Negros Oriental: Soon-to-Be Home for KALAHI-CIDSS

"At the very end, they were jumping with joy, giving one another high fives upon hearing that their towns were selected."


This was a scenario during an information dissemination and municipality selection conducted by the KALAHI-CIDSS Project of the Department of Social Welfare and Development for the selection of the target project recipients in Negros Oriental. The event was held in Bethel Guest House on May 27, 2011 in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental.

Negros Oriental Mayors with Cong. Limkaichong

KALAHI-CIDSS Project or dearly called as KC, is a multi-million peso poverty reduction program of the Philippine Government implemented by DSWD using a community-driven development technology. Funded by a loan from World Bank and with the counterpart money from the national and local governments and the communities, KC started in 2003, in provinces, municipalities and barangays known as the poorest among the poor in the country.


The funds were used to teach community people how to identify their most felt needs and the solutions to these needs, mostly through construction of small infrastructure projects. In Region VII, KC have worked with the communities of 14 towns in Bohol and Siquijor.

As part of its scale-up operations, KC enters in the province of Negros Oriental as one of its new target beneficiaries. With poverty incidence as its main consideration in identifying the towns eligible for the Project, the would-be funding partner for the Negros Oriental implementation, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, hired an independent firm to invite the eligible municipalities to a project orientation and a selection process. Hence, the May 27 Information Dissemination and Municipality Selection activity.  

Lottery Process Selection: The MCC Way

All mayors from the eligible municipalities of Jimalalud, Pamplona, Vallehermoso, Dauin, Manjuyod, Zamboanguita, Mabinay, Ayungon, Santa Catalina, Basay, Bindoy, Tayasan, San Jose, Siaton and La Libertad, personally responded to the invitation and went to Bethel Guest House.


The Mayors were all excited and very welcoming of the upcoming arrival of KC Project in their localities, bringing a grant of P450,000 multiplied to the number of barangays per municipality to be spent in small infrastructure projects as poverty reduction interventions in the communities.


The mayors' excitement, however, was mixed with apprehension that they might return to their towns empty-handed because, as explained to them, due to the limited funds, only 11 of the 15 municipalities will be selected via a special process of lottery. Such situation led the local chief executives to suggest for options such as "equal division of the seed fund among the 15 towns", or better yet, "prioritize the towns according to the level of poverty incidence". 

Gov. Roel Degamo, during his speech

It was reported, based on the National Statistics Coordination Board, that the municipalities have these poverty incidences:

                      POVERTY

                                 MUNICIPALITY INCIDENCE

                                 ----------------------------------------------------------

                                 Jimalalud 65.67

                                 Tayasan 63.91

Pamplona 43.71

                                 Vallehermoso 55.66

  Dauin 36.94

                                 Manjuyod 48.21

San Jose 33.71

                                 Zamboanguita 48.10

Siaton 57.38

                                 Mabinay 54.58

Ayungon 60.66

                                 Santa Catalina 61.41

Basay 63.45

                                 La Libertad 64.82

                                 Bindoy (Payabon) 59.74

After the thorough explanation of Tricia Maligalig from the KC national project office, all of the mayors signed to commit themselves to the selection process.


Using a draw-lots mechanics, the 11 municipalities were finally identified. These are: Jimalalud, Pamplona, Vallehermoso, Dauin, Manjuyod, Zamboanguita, Mabinay, Ayungon, Santa Catalina, Basay, and Bindoy. Municipalities that were not selected are: Tayasan, San Jose, Siaton and La Libertad.

MCC and MCAP Staff: ___________________________

Apart from the Mayors, Congresswoman Jocelyn Limkaichong of the First District of Negros Oriental and Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo attended the event. The good congresswoman was asked to help in the selection process because of the busy schedule of Gov. Degamo, who had to leave early.


On behalf of the DSWD Field Office VII, Assistant Regional Director and Regional Project Manager for KC, Nemia C. Antipala, attended the affair. For the MCC and the Millennium Challenge Corporation Account Philippines (MCAP), there were Cheryl Orata-Idjao and Elcid Pangilinan, to name a few.  

-fin-