DSWD releases P1.5-billion anti-poverty funds

CEBU CITY – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Central Visayas has allocated P1.5 billion in additional funds for poverty alleviation projects in partnership with local governments in the region.

DSWD Regional Director Rebecca Geamala said the fund will cover 97 municipalities across Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental and Siquijor with a total of 2,201 villages.

She said the DSWD will continue to empower communities by providing access to basic social services and participation in various projects through the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS) financing program.

The funds provide towns with different interventions such as prevention, response, recovery and rehabilitation type of sub-projects in response to the effects of health crisis, according to Geamala, adding the local governments will be divided into two groups which will implement the pro-poor projects until 2023.

Geamala said KALAHI-CIDSS gives emphasis on the developmental part of the community especially the barangays through participatory activities. She said local government officials are made to understand their roles as well as the framework that backs up the program’s features.

DSWD Assistant Regional Director for Operations, Shalaine Marie Lucero, cited the importance of community development, noting that municipal orientation has given local officials a clear path and guide on how to implement KALAHI-CIDSS projects. “With the signed memorandum of agreement, we hope that all of you will look at it as a beacon of hope for our community and will remind us of our mandate in encouraging local participation,” she said. (John Rey Saavedra)