CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The province of Camiguin is supporting the Department of Social Welfare and Development's (DSWD) social services to be institutionalized.
In a statement Friday, Camiguin Governor Xavier Jesus Romualdo said he is backing the enactment of the Community-Driven Development (CDD) Institutionalization Bill with the help of his father, Rep. Jurdin Jesus Romualdo, one of the measure's lead authors.
The governor said the program helps provide “smaller but much-needed projects” in barangays.
“On the part of the provincial government and even the congressional district, there are certain limitations on what we can deliver, budget-wise, to our constituents,” Romualdo said.
Programs such as the Kalahi-CIDSS (Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services, which he said act to “fill in the gap” and complement local initiatives.
CDD is the strategy used by the DSWD’s Kalahi-CIDSS in implementing poverty-alleviating projects in partnership with local government units.
Oliver Inodeo, DSWD-Northern Mindanao focal person, said that since CDD is not yet a law, its budget is subject to loans and local government unit (LGU) counterparts.
The CDD institutionalization bill, he said, would make CDD a national strategy for implementing government programs, projects, and activities.
Currently, the Kalahi-CIDSS National Community-Drive Development Program Additional Financing Phase 1 is implementing PHP51.8 million worth of subprojects across five municipalities of Camiguin, identifying solar streetlights as the priority needs in most barangays.
The subprojects are supported by LGU cash counterparts with Kalahi-CIDSS targeting the completion and turnover by September this year.
From 2014-2017, Camiguin implemented the Kalahi-CIDSS as a response to the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda, assisting LGUs in their post-recovery efforts using the disaster response operations modality of the program. (PNA)
