A total of 37 poor and disaster-stricken municipalities across Bicol were identified as recipients of over half-billion peso worth of projects to help indigents cope with and rise from the adverse effects of the prevailing coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
The PHP570-million undertaking includes the construction of quarantine facilities, purchase of medical tools and supplies, and cash-for-work activities to be implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) under its Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS) program.
In a statement on Tuesday, DSWD-Bicol director Leo Quintilla said the municipalities were identified based on poverty incidence, income class, and the number of barangays that were affected by disasters from 2014-2020.
The projects under the program dubbed as Additional Financing–Community-Based Response for Covid-19 (AF-CBRC) will be implemented in Bombon, Cabusao, Camaligan, Canaman, Garchitorena, Magarao, Pasacao, Milaor, Minalabac, Ocampo, Presentacion, Sangay, and San Fernando in Camarines Sur; and Manito for Albay;
Paracale, San Lorenzo Ruiz, San Vicente, Santa Elena, Talisay and Vinzons in Camarines Norte; Barcelona, Casiguran, Irosin, Juban, Prieto Diaz and Sta. Magdalena in Sorsogon; Baras, Bato, Caramoran, Gigmoto, Pandan, and San Miguel in Catanduanes; and Batuan, Claveria, Dimasalang, Mobo and Monreal in Masbate.
Quintilla said these towns had undergone a capacity assessment to ensure that the local government units (LGUs) are ready to participate in this year’s implementation of the program.
“The modality will be implemented in two groups of municipalities in which 37 municipalities belonging in the first group will implement (it) this July until December while the second group will start in August 2021 until 2022,” he said.
Quintilla said the second group of municipalities is still in the program’s enrollment phase.
The AF-CBRC will be using the Disaster Response Operations Procedure (DROP), a simplified version of the Community Empowerment Activity Cycle (CEAC) to hasten the process of approval of community-identified projects and implementation while still following the basic principles of the Community-Driven Development (CDD) approach.
KALAHI-CIDSS is a poverty alleviation program of DSWD that uses the CDD method to help communities in poor municipalities identify challenges, make informed decisions, and control resources to address poverty.
In 2020, the program completed 573 community projects amounting to PHP129 million in 15 municipalities of the Bicol Region. (PNA)