Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian said on Friday (March 21) the newly approved Php56.7 billion ‘Panahon ng Pagkilos’ project champions the community driven development (CDD) approach to help communities build disaster resilient infrastructures and development mechanisms.
“Matatandaan ninyo 20 years na, may programa na CDD project ang DSWD na iyong mga mahihirap na munisipyo 6th, 5th, at 4th class municipalities, sila iyong mga pumipili ng mga proyekto para sa kanilang mga sarili. Inoorganisa nila ang kanilang mamamayan, na nagiging people’s organization, sila ang pipili ng maliit na program o micro-project na kailangan ng kanilang lugar tulad ng water system, pagpapailaw, day care centers at schools,” Secretary Gatchalian told Radyo Pilipinas.
Also known as the Philippine Community Resilience Project (PCRP), the project takes off from the success of the KapitBisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS).
The program is unique and timely as it specifically aims to strengthen community-based mechanisms to address the effects of hazards, disasters, economic shocks, health vulnerabilities, and other emerging risks, according to Secretary Gatchalian.
The same bottom-up approach CDD strategy will be employed in the Panahon ng Pagkilos project where target communities will be empowered to choose the appropriate projects responsive to their needs.
Under the project, the communities may identify projects amounting to at most Php50M for as long as the said interventions are truly responsive to their priority needs against the effects of disasters and crisis.
“Ang mga mamamayan ang nagpaplano para sa kanilang mga kinabukasan. Sila ang nagpo-procure, sila nagpapatakbo. Hindi ito yung tipong tayo sa Maynila napakalayo sa kanila ang magdidikta kung ano ang proyekto na angkop sa kanilang lugar. At syempre, isipin din natin dahil malalayo ang mga lugar na ito, mga pinakamahihirap at malalayong lugar, kadalasan nakakaligtaan natin sila,” Secretary Gatchalian said.
The DSWD chief said the project will ensure that those communities will not be left behind in development.
The most important thing is that the government is not only able to reach those areas, but under the CDD mechanism, the decision for any project or intervention is given to the communities,
Presently, the DSWD is complying with the requirements for the projects’ eventual full implementation in 2026 until 2030 with approximately 4.3 million households across 500 municipalities in 49 provinces nationwide benefiting from the new undertaking.
