ComVal Governor Arturo T. Uy [center] signs the memorandum of agreement for the pilot testing of the enhancement of the provincial local government unit (PLGU) engagement in Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS) Project. With him are Kalahi-CIDSS National Project Manager Edgar G. Pato [left], representing DSWD Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman, and Undersecretary Francisco I. Fernandez [right], representing DILG Secretary Manuel A. Roxas II.

NABUNTURAN, Compostela Valey — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) signed on Thursday a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with Compostela Valley Governor Arturo T. Uy for the pilot testing of the enhancement of the provincial local government unit (PLGU) engagement in Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS).

Edgar G. Pato, Kalahi-CIDSS National Project Manager, urged the residents of the province to help ensure the success of the endeavor which will run until end of 2014.

“You are, after all, the driving force of your own progress and you have a vital part in the building of our nation,” Pato said, emphasizing that the communities are “ important participants in the planning and the design of their development strategies.”

The engagement with the provincial government was adopted 10 years after the Kalahi-CIDSS project implementation as the strategy has become successful particularly in increasing the per capita consumption by 5%, improvement in the delivery of basic services, heightened participation of residents in barangay assemblies and increasing the social capital through the strengthening of their membership in association as they have also exhibited higher trust levels on government-initiated projects.

In response, Compostela Valley First District Representative Maria Carmen Zamora called the engagement the “sunshine” as the province was among the two provinces in the region that were battered by Typhoon Pablo on December 4, the other being Davao Oriental.

“If only we give respect to the barangay development plans and we adhere to them nothing could go wrong,” Zamora said, giving credits to the officials of the province.

The Asian Development Bank, the funding institution of the project, decided to choose the province as it has supported the community-driven development (CDD) implementation since the start of the Kalahi-CIDSS in the province.

Since 2011, the provincial government already set aside 4.295 million as counterpart contrbution for Kalahi-CIDSS implementation. It has also become the beneficiary of the Kalahi-CIDSS-PAMANA with an investment of P16.71 million.

The provincial government has also adopted the CDD concept in its planning and budgeting processes through its Assistance Towards Unity for Progress thru Empowerment, Accountability, Cooperation, and Efficiency (ATU-PEACE) program.

The two agencies also saw in the province the presence of institutional capacity to lead a participatory process of planning, budgeting, execution, and monitoring and evaluation. DSWD