“Tubig ang simbolo ng magandang buhay para sa amin dito sa Sapa Pequena (Water is the symbol of good life for us in Sapa Pequena)”, said Ruth L. Bondal, 33, from Burgos, Pangasinan who is married to a farmer, has three children, and is a Kalahi-CIDSS community volunteer.
Kalahi-CIDSS, or the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services, is the biggest community-driven development (CDD) program of the Philippine government and is implemented through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
As a CDD program, Kalahi-CIDSS seeks to empower communities, improve local governance, and help alleviate poverty by putting power back in the hands of the people. They are given the opportunity to become involved in local development issues and in managing resources so they can implement sub-projects that they have identified and that can respond to their most pressing needs.
As a Kalahi-CIDSS volunteer, Ruth works hard to try to ensure that Sapa Pequena is one of the barangays that will be prioritized for funding through Kalahi-CIDSS.
One of the 14 barangays of Burgos, Sapa Pequena suffers from water scarcity. With farming being the major source of income of the residents, the insufficiency of water poses serious threats to the farmers and their crops every harvest season.
“Ang hirap po ng tubig dito sa amin, sa pisikal na usapan at pinansyal. Ang layo ng pag-iigiban, at higit sa lahat, mahal ang tubig pang-inom na binibili namin mula pa sa bayan na kung saan siyam na kilometro ang layo at mahal ang pamasahe, dagdag pa ang mahinang ani dahil sa kakulangan sa tubig (Getting water is difficult in our area, both physically and financially. The water source is far from where we are and potable water is very expensive. We still have to buy from town, which is nine kilometers away, so we also have the expensive fare to deal with, along with insufficient harvest due to water shortage).
Ruth perceives Kalahi-CIDSS’ CDD approach as the chance they have been waiting for. She deems it an opportunity for her and her kabarangays to ease their despair brought forth by poverty through their proposed water system sub-project.
Ruth has long aspired to reach out to her community so she does her best as a volunteer and commits her time in every barangay and municipal assembly and provides assistance for the finalization of their barangay’s water system project proposal. She constantly demonstrates not only her commitment to Kalahi-CIDSS, but also her faith in the realization of the objectives of the program on community empowerment, good governance, and poverty reduction which will soon be more felt in their area.
Ruth further expressed, “Ang DSWD para sa akin ay tubig na nagbibigay ng buhay. Bilang isang Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program beneficiary, pinagaan ng DSWD ang buhay na meron kami ng pamilya ko ngayon, pagkatapos ay dumating pa ang Kalahi-CIDSS na pag-asa naming tutugon sa kahirapang dinadanas ng aming barangay.” (DSWD is like water that gives life. As a Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program beneficiary, DSWD has helped improve the quality of life that I and my family currently enjoy. Afterwards came Kalahi-CIDSS which we hope will alleviate our community’s burden)”.
