A senior official of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Thursday (May 30) called for the need to institutionalize the community-driven development program as espoused by the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS).

KALAHI-CIDSS National Program Manager (NPM) Atty. Bernadette Mapue-Joaquin made the appeal to legislators during the DSWD Thursday Media Forum at the Central Office’s New Press Center in Quezon City.

“Sa atin pong mga mambabatas, hindi lamang po sa mga mambabatas natin kung hindi pati na rin sa ating community volunteers at sa ating unsung heroes ng KALAHI-CIDSS, dalawampung taon na po ang KALAHI-CIDSS. Samahan ninyo kami na tumindig upang maipagpatuloy natin ang programa,” NPM Mapue-Joaquin said.

(To our lawmakers, not just to our legislators but also to our community volunteers and the unsung heroes of KALAHI-CIDSS, KALAHI-CIDSS has been around for twenty years now. Join us in standing up to continue the program.)

The first version of the Community-Driven Development (CDD) Bill was filed during the 18th Congress in September 2019. Three senators also filed their respective CDD Bill versions during the 19th Congress in 2022 and 2023.

“The three versions are set for the first public hearing at the Committee level. It pushes for the institutionalization and operationalization of the CDD approach; provision of capacity building and technical assistance to local government units, civil society organizations, and communities through the DSWD Academy; and creation of an inter-agency advisory council on CDD,” NPM Mapue-Joaquin said.

Among the DSWD flagship programs, only the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) has been institutionalized in 2019  through Republic Act No. 11310.

The Food Stamp Program, one of the innovative programs of DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian, is now in the process of being institutionalized after Malacañang issued Executive Order (EO) No. 44, establishing the “Walang Gutom 2027: Food Stamp Program” as a flagship program of the national government.

Last May 14, the House Committee on Social Services gave its approval to the unnumbered substitute bill to House Bills No. 8532, 8899, 10010, and 10202, which all seek to strengthen the anti-involuntary hunger program of the government.
According to NPM Mapue-Joaquin, institutionalizing CDD will create a continuous enabling policy that ensures maximum participation and empowerment of the communities.

“Marami na po tayong natulungan na mga komunidad pero marami pa rin pong mga komunidad ang nangangailangan ng tulong dito po sa ating programa na KALAHI-CIDSS. Tulungan nyo kami na ipagpatuloy at isabatas po natin ang programa. Tulungan nyo kami na ipagpatuloy ang pagbibigay ng tulong sa mga pinakanangangailangan na komunidad,” Atty. Mapue-Joaquin explained.

(Many communities have already been helped, but there are still many more communities in need of assistance through our KALAHI-CIDSS program. Please help us to continue and institutionalize the program. Assist us in continuing to provide aid to the communities or to those communities in dire need.)

Through the KALAHI-CIDSS, the DSWD has provided basic social services to more than 22 million poor, vulnerable, marginalized, and geographically isolated households, through 83,155 subprojects. These projects include access roads, improved water systems, medical supplies, tools and equipment, barangay health stations, and Child Development Centers.

KALAHI-CIDSS is one of the poverty alleviation programs of the DSWD that engages communities to identify, design, and implement development projects to address their most pressing needs.

The program also helps communities in poor municipalities identify challenges around reducing poverty and make informed decisions on a range of locally identified options for development. #