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.  

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Meeting the Philippine President

I am lucky to have lived long enough to know, not through history class, six Philippine presidents, including the most recent one.

Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III: 15th Philippine President

During the 2010 presidential campaigns, I was positively vocal about the tandem of Mar Roxas and Noynoy Aquino. When the sudden shift of history happened, that's after the death of former Pres. Corazon Aquino, Noynoy's mother, and when everybody seems to be really reminiscing what the Aquinos have made for this country since the 1986 People Power Edsa Revolt, I became more passionate about the state of Philippine politics that I voted for Noynoy and Mar. 

Our Lady of EDSA: A reminder of the 1986 People Power Revolt

In discussions among friends, I always point out that the Philippines has always been blessed because despite of the greedy, mindless leaders that have sat and ruled the nation, there has always been a Higher Being watching us, Filipinos.  

The toppling down of the Marcos dictatorship, the peaceful Edsa Revolution, the impeachment of Pres. Joseph Estrada, and the death of Cory Aquino are proofs that, indeed, there is "Someone" up there, watching over us, shaping our political story, and has always been levelling things for us when the going gets very rough for each ordinary Filipino.

Now, I am so glad that the Philippines is blessed with a leader in the person of Pres. Benigno Simeon C. Aquino, who I see to be very truthful in his words that he will never steal from our country's coffers.  

Photo Op with the President

Never, for a single slim moment in my life, did I dream for a chance to meet a president of a country, or the current President. The person, who had always been a common topic with and among my friends, has turned from abstract to a physical being, when I had to be part of a group that went to Malacanang Palace on February 24, 2011 for a forum with Pres. Aquino.

I was very happy to be there, hearing the President's speech while sitting just about four meters away from him, and having luncheon inside the Palace. My, oh my, I said to myself. this is definitely something for the wall to be mounted for my grandchildren to see. 

My Remembrance 

The forum was attended mostly by selected local mayors, national  government agencies, and foreign development funding agencies (WorldBank, Asian Development Bank, AusAid, JICA, Millennium Challenge Corporation). 

The mayors are from the different municipalities all over the country that were able to avail of the government's poverty alleviation program called KALAHI-CIDSS Project (KC Project).

In the Forum, the mayors made a proposal to Pres. Aquino, saying, in principle, that  poverty can be addressed when a poverty-reduction mechanism like the KC Project becomes part of the country's program. To know more about the KC Project, go to http://kalahi.dswd.gov.ph/

KALAHI-CIDSS in CV Paves Way for Makamasang Tugon Initiative

The last week of May 2011 witnessed a significant milestone for the Department of Social Welfare and Development's KALAHI-CIDSS Project in Central Visayas. It marked the Project's first official engagement with selected local government units as among its major stakeholders in the implementation of the KC Project's CDD-LPP Harmonization Initiative a.k.a. Makamasang Tugon.

The full week was spent for the holding of an enrollment forum and writeshop  with all 14 municipalities from Bohol and Siquijor that are target beneficiaries of the Initiative. The activity was held in Cebu City from May 23-27, 2011. 


These municipalities were previously-covered areas of the KC Project from 2003 to 2009. Now, the KC Project is returning to these same municipalities for the Makamasang Tugon Initiative, aiming to institutionalize the Project's community-driven development technology into the local planning process of these chosen towns.

The gathering was graced by the Governor of Bohol, Edgar M. Chatto, who, after hearing the municipalities' sharing of lessons and past experiences about KALAHI-CIDSS, commented in his inspirational message that it is nice to think that the municipalities and the provincial government are seeing things in the same perspective now because "it is so important that as a team of workers for the development of the province, we must see things in the same perspective".  Gov. Chatto congratulated all municipalities but at the same time challenged them, pointing out that having been selected as beneficiaries mean that the towns belong to a group that needs to address poverty indicators.

On behalf of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) as the DSWD's partner institution for the Initiative, Assistant Regional Director Elias Fernandez for Region VII, talked to the participants about  important concerns of the DILG.

All mayors, except one, of the 14 municipalities participated in the Forum cum Writeshop: Mayors Richard Quezon of Siquijor and Melojean Orquillas from Enrique Villanueva from the province of Siquijor, and from the Bohol province: Mayors Thomas Louis Gonzaga of Danao, Cary Camacho of Getafe, Restituto Auxtero of Talibon, Ronald Lowell Tirol of Buenavista, Rey Niño Boniel of Bien Unido, Roberto Cajes of Trinidad, Tesalonica Boyboy of Carlos P. Garcia, Dr. Eutiquio Bernales of Ubay, Esther Tabigue of Mabini, Claudio Bonior of San Miguel, and Wilson Pajo, C.E. of Pilar.


Also in attendance are Mr. Thomas Villarubia and Ms. Dominica Lacuesta, Provincial Social Welfare & Development Officer (PSWDO) and DILG's Provincial Director for Siquijor, respectively; Ms. Lisa Quirog, the Province of Bohol's SEEM Cluster Head and Ms. Carmelita Tecson as Bohol's PSWDO.

Each of the town's municipal key officials also attended and were coached on how to make a Municipal Project Implementation Proposal as one of the requirements for full acceptance into the Makamasang Tugon Initiative.    

The MPIPs, once finalized, will be reviewed and approved by the DSWD, as the main implementer of the KC Project, along with other key partners.  Once these MPIPs are stamped approved, these municipalities will enter into a Memorandum of Agreement with the DSWD and other agencies. The MOA signing will signal the official start of the KC Project in these covered areas.


The Forum cum Writeshop was spearheaded by the DSWD's OIC-Assistant Regional Director Nemia C. Antipala, in her capacity as the Regional Project Manager, along with the project management staff.**

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