The NEDA Board, chaired by President Benigno C. Aquino III, approved the National Community-Driven Development Program (NCDDP) last January 18. Five other projects, including the construction of the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (Calax) and the connection road of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) and the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) were also given a green light by the Board.
The NCDDP is the scaling up of the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS), one of the national government’s flagship programs for poverty reduction. NCDDP is being implemented through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
NCDDP will use the community-driven development (CDD) approach to address poverty. Using this strategy, it will empower ordinary citizens to actively and directly participate in local governance by identifying their own community needs, planning, implementing, and monitoring projects to address local poverty issues collectively. Kalahi-CIDSS currently covers 367 of the poorest municipalities in 12 regions. This number will increase to 900 in 16 regions within the year. DSWD announced that a similar program for the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is being worked out. An additional 118 municipalities are expected to be covered in ARMM.
While DSWD will remain as the lead implementing agency of NCDDP, it will work with other agencies such as the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Education (Dep Ed), Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Health (DOH), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Department of Budget and Management (DBM), and the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC). Efforts to harmonize these departments’ processes for community mobilization are currently underway in order to ensure the success of NCDDP.
Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman is grateful for the approval of NCDDP. However, she recognizes that much work needs to be done. She said, “It will take time for people to acquaint themselves with the demands of the NCDD program, but we are confident that this approach will be able to alleviate poverty in the Philippines. It is a huge and meaningful step to finally make CDD a national strategy.”
Sec. Soliman also acknowledged the excellent teamwork of champions from local government units who previously implemented KALAHI-CIDSS and agencies under the HDPRC (Human Development nd Poverty Reduction Cabinet Cluster), which pushed for the scaling up of CDD into a national program. “NCDDP represents the commitment of the LGUs and the HDPRC members who believe that fight against poverty can be won if we trust people with their own development. CDD brings that power to citizens and engages local government units and other agencies to work together to improve access of poor communities to sustainable basic services.”
NCDDP will be launched in the second half of 2013 and will be implemented for a period of five years. ###
