PANTAWID SCHOLAR. Students’ Grant-in-Aid Program for Poverty Alleviation (SGP-PA) grantee of Davao del Norte State College in Panabo City Christy Marie Edaño bags the Second Highest Honors during their recent graduation ceremony. Finishing Bachelor of Science in Fisheries majoring in Aquaculture, Edaño was also one of the top five SGP-PA National Academic Awardees with the Highest General Point Average in 2014. She is among the 526 Pantawid Pamilya SGP-PA graduates in Region XI in April 2016. 

A student-grantee receives a maximum of P 60,000.00 scholarship grant per school year or P 30,000.00 per semester. This is broken down to P 20, 000/year Tuition Fee Cost, P 5,000/year Textbook Fees and other learning materials, and P 35,000 (that is, P 3,500/month x 10 months) stipend (for board and lodging, transportation, clothing, health/medical needs, basic school supplies and other related costs. (DSWD)

Jasmen Europa Manansang, head of Project Preparation Team of Barangay Batuganding.

Sarangani, Davao Occidental – Kalahi-CIDSS or Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services continues to rally behind the power of people in advancing community development as it expands its operation in 11 more towns in Davao Region.

New Kalahi-CIDSS municipalities recently conducted the Municipal Inter-Barangay Forum for Participatory Resource Allocation (MIBF-PRA). These are Montevista, Kiblawan, Don Marcelino, Jose Abad Santos, Sarangani, Sta. Maria, San Isidro, Malalag, Baganga, Braulio E. Dujali, and Lupon.

The MIBF-PRA concretizes the role of the citizenry in establishing the demand for development through community proposals to address development challenges. It also hinges on the crucial role of community in development planning through participatory allocation of resources.

In MIBF-PRA, the community prepares a proposal with the respective indicative budget, and through the MIBF, they will lobby for prioritization of their project. Further, MIBF-PRA facilitates establishment of people empowerment and participation as necessary components in effective poverty reduction.

Kalahi-CIDSS is one of the core programs of DSWD that aims to empower communities through enhanced participation in local governance and poverty alleviation projects.

MIBF-PRA

Involved in MIBF-PRA are the three elected members of Kalahi-CIDSS Project Preparation Team (PPT) and the three members of Barangay Representation Team (BRT) which were chosen by community members.

During the forum, each barangay will choose a representative, whether individual or group, to propose and defend the sub-project.

Each representative will vote using a canvass form and proceeds on rating the presented projects based on the criteria with corresponding point value.

Jasmen Europa Manansang, 39, PPT Head of Barangay Batuganding, shared how their preparations for the MIBF inspired her to work for development in her community.

“Ganahan ko sa epekto sa sistema sa MIBF-PRA sa amoang mga proyekto. Tungod ani, mas ma–haom ug mas klaro unsa ang kailangan sa usa ka komunidad. Mas nahan-ay pud namo ang pag-prioritize sa mga proyekto. Usahay makahuna-huna mi, sakto na ba ni atong gibuhat? Masakto ba sa moabutay nga kwarta? Pero tungod sa MIBF, wala mi nakulbaan, busa, mas nakabuhi pa kini sa among kadasig sa paghunahuna nga sakto jud among gibuhat (I am pleased with the outcome of MIBF-PRA. It helps us target the needs of our community.  Project prioritization is done accordingly. There are times when we ask ourselves, Are we doing the right thing? Will the projects’ cost match the funding? With MIBF, we are confident that we did it right).”

“The MIBF-PRA of Kalahi-CIDSS brings real people empowerment in the community and through it, the people whose voices have been hardly heard, are now in the frontline,” said Sarangani Mayor Virginia T. Cawa.

The new 11 municipalities covered in Region XI obtained a total grant allocation of P 173,980,750.00 for the year. (DSWD)

CCT Bill. Poverty Alleviation Committee Secretary of the House of Representatives Ma. Lourdes Sagmit-Mendoza discusses the process of how a bill becomes a law in the case of the filed CCT (Conditional Cash Transfer) Institutionalization Bill during the recent Parent Leaders’ Leadership Training at Eden Nature Park Resort, Toril, Davao City. The Poverty Alleviation Committee covers all matters directly and principally relating to policies and programs to address the poverty situation in the country and other actions to alleviate the plight of the poor and promote their right to equal access to opportunities for a better quality of life. (DSWD)

Elenita receives her Certificate as resource person during a DSWD Convocation Program.

Davao City –“Sa una, nagtuo ko nga ang mga kababainhan kutob lang sa panimalay. Igo mag alaga og anak, mag asikaso sa bana, ug magluto sa kusina. Pero tong niabot ang Kalahi-CIDSS, natagamtaman nako ang importansya sa akong kontribusyon sa akong komunidad (I used to think that women are limited to staying at home, take care of children and husband and prepare food. But when Kalahi- CIDSS came about, I sensed the significance of my contribution to my community),” shared Elenita P. Lampera, during a program at DSWD Office.

Kalahi-CIDSS or Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services is one of the core programs of DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) that aims to empower communities through enhanced participation in local governance and poverty alleviation projects.

In celebration of Women’s Month and recognizing the crucial role of women, DSWD invited women-leader beneficiaries and volunteers whose lives have improved through their active involvement in DSWD programs, to share their stories of positive transformation.

Woman-volunteer

Recently, Lampera, 43, was awarded as Best Volunteer under Gender and Development Category during the 2^nd Kalahi-CIDSS Regional Bayani Ka! Awards.

She is also a Parent Leader of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program. Her family receives P2, 800.00 every two months, which she uses to ensure that her school-aged children remain in school and avail local health services.

Lampera, a mother of three, considers that education is the best gift she can offer to their children. She believes that the classroom is the heart of any educational system.

“Ang edukasyon ang isa ka bahandi nga among maikahatag sa among mga anak. Mao kini ang ilang bulawan nga dili makuha sa ilaha (Education is one legacy that we can give our children. This is their treasure that could not be taken away from them).”

When she volunteered in Kalahi-CIDSS, she learned for the first time how to do objective and systemized project work. A high school graduate in a provincial public school, it was her first time to do canvassing, budgeting, milestone monitoring, representing her community in meetings, negotiating with suppliers, and most of all, overseeing the implementation of the sub-project.

Through the skills she learned, she led, and was able to successfully carry out the construction of a P 679,175.00 one-classroom high school building through Kalahi-CIDSS PAMANA.

Lampera, brimming with fire in her heart, was able to invigorate the Bayanihan spirit in their community. At first, the people in their community were doubtful on a woman’s ability to lead projects. She was called a lot of things —incompetent, weak, and wavering.

She admitted, “I was a victim of harsh gossips and cruel name-calling. Oftentimes, I hear them say that women are supposed to be just at home, doing chores and tending to their husband and children. But I refused to believe that.”

Gains by women

Based on DSWD records, 54% of Kalahi-CIDSS community volunteers in Region XI are women. About 7,000 of these women volunteers have attended capacity building sessions, and 1,848 served as laborers in the construction of community sub-projects.

The Bayani Ka! Awards seeks to acknowledge the contribution of program supporters and convene Kalahi-CIDSS volunteer-champions and heroes from different communities. Lampera is such one heroine who surely invested a lot of her time and efforts in making sure that sub-projects are successfully carried out.

What was initially a source of fear for her became something that she came to be proud of, “Dako akong pasalamat sa Kalahi-CIDSS sa oportunidad nga gihatag sa mga kababainhan. Wala nako damha nga ang among kalihukan sa komunidad, isa kini sa makapa-awhag sa katawhan nga mag bayanihan (I am truly grateful to Kalahi-CIDSS for the opportunities for women. I didn’t expect that our community project will motivate the people to imbibe the bayanihan spirit),” Lampera stressed. (DSWD)

FOOD PACKS. Distribution of 2000 DSWD family food packs in Barangay Malamba, Marilog District, Davao City on Friday. Recipients were residents of Malamba who are affected by the long dry spell. Affected families in Davao Del Norte, Compostela Valley and Davao Del Sur also received  food packs which contain six kilos rice, four cans sardines, four cans corned beef and six sachets of 3-in-1 coffee. (DSWD)

COURTESY VISIT. [L-R] Malaysian Vice Consul Saiful Nizam Wahid, Consul Khalil Ibrahim, Consul General Abdullah Zawati Tahir, DSWD Regional Director Mercedita P. Jabagat and DSWD Chief of Institutional Development Ma. Elena S. Labrador grab a posterity pose Thursday following the Malaysian team’s visit at DSWD Office. The Malaysian Embassy has been a valuable partner of DSWD especially during Typhoon Pablo Relief Operations. “We want to continue our collaboration with DSWD. That is why we are here today to personally meet the new director so we can start working together and helping each other,” Consul General Tahir stressed. (DSWD)

Tagum City  –  The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), in partnership with Department of Education (DepEd), National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), and other line agencies recently conducted the Indigenous People’s Summit at Big 8 Corporate Hotel here.

Attended by 100 participants, the Summit aims to consult with tribal leaders and Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representatives (IPMR) on the  establishment of new public school classrooms for IPs in Mindanao.

The IP summit was also attended by NCIP Chairperson Atty. Leonor T. Oralde-Quintayo, DSWD Kalahi-CIDSS Deputy National Program Manager Cicero Juan Aguilar Jr, Mindanao Island Cluster Manager for DSWD Kalahi-CIDSS Elise Faye Sogo-an, Area Coordinator of Government of Australia – Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Rannon Padrinao, and officials from Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Environment and National Resources (DENR), and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP).

IP needs

“All poor areas in the Philippines, for the longest time, lack basic social services. This remains to be a historical problem and these areas mostly are IP communities,” said Aguilar.

He announced that groups of IPs in far flung villages of Region XI will soon benefit from the new partnership of DSWD and DepEd dubbed Whole of Nation Initiative (WNI), wherein school classrooms shall be built for use of IPs.

In Region XI, a total of 64 sites were identified in Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, and Davao Oriental and five sites in Davao City, where 169 classrooms will be built with an indicative amount of P 895,000.00 per classroom, Aguilar revealed.

Community driven

“The construction of classroom buildings will employ the Community Driven Development (CDD) approach of Kalahi-CIDSS. Based on previous projects, the experience of the CDD approach in sub-project implementation is proven to be efficient and effective,” Aguilar pointed out.

Kalahi-CIDSS or Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services is one of the core programs of DSWD aiming to empower communities through enhanced participation in local governance and poverty alleviation projects.

He said funds will be directly transferred to community accounts while IP leaders will be mobilized to be more participative in the processes of project implementation, making them equally accountable to their communities.

“The Barangay Sub-project Management Committee (BSPMC), which was organized by the Area Coordinating Team of Kalahi-CIDSS, will capacitate IP volunteers in managing construction of classroom buildings,” Aguilar added.

Site validation, as agreed in the Summit, will soon commence and classroom sub-projects are expected to be completed within the year.

Since 2003, Kalahi-CIDSS has completed 94 community school buildings in Region XI with a fund exposure of P 102,349,623.70 million. (DSWD)

IP SUMMIT. Tribal Leaders and Indigenous People Mandatory Representatives (IPMRs) from far flung villages of Region XI attend the Indigenous Peoples’ Summit at Big 8 Hotel in Tagum City. IP communities in Davao Region are set to benefit a total of 169 classrooms through the new partnership of Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and Department of Education (DepEd) dubbed Whole of Nation Initiative (WNI). (DSWD)