Leyte pours in anew counterpart funds for Kalahi-CIDSS project

By Provincial Media Relations Center
January 7, 2013

TACLOBAN CITY  – Before 2012 ended, the provincial government of Leyte released its counterpart fund amounting to more or less P28 million for various KALAHI-CIDSS projects identified by various municipalities in Leyte.

This as the provincial government of Leyte under Gov. Mimietta Bagulaya assured continued support to Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)’s Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS), the national government’s community-driven development (CDD) strategy to reduce poverty in the countryside.

The latest download of counterpart fund was in Alangalang, Leyte where businessman Dominic Petilla represented Gov. Bagulaya in the distribution of the provincial fund to barangays which identified mostly infrastructure as their Kalahi-CIDSS sub-projects.

Kalahi-CIDSS’ counterpart funding requirement sourced from the 20 percent development fund of the municipal government also ensures that a significant proportion of such fund is earmarked for the basic needs of poor communities, the governor said.

Kalahi-CIDSS champions participatory governance leading to improved lives. Community participation is said to lower cost and improves construction quality of projects.

In previous Kalahi-CIDSS implementation in Leyte, major projects prioritized by communities include water systems, roads, school buildings, barangay health stations, and day-care centers, among others.

The project’s CDD approach, which has been tested and proven effective in easing poverty in the poorest provinces, seeks to empower ordinary citizens to directly participate in local governance by identifying their own community needs, planning, implementing and monitoring projects together to address local poverty issues.