ADB Mission visits Leyte to evaluate Kalahi-CIDDS engagement

By Provincial Media Relations Center
April 17, 2012

TACLOBAN CITY  –  The Asian Development Bank (ADB) sent a team to Leyte province recently to evaluate the provincial government’s engagement in the implementation of the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS) through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

The mission, which comprised of Joel Mangahas as mission leader with Yukiko Ito and Gerard Servais as mission members, came together with DSWD Secretary Dinky Soliman and personally met with Leyte Gov. Carlos Jericho Petilla for a short meeting on how the province supported the project from the start.

Gov. Petilla said Kalahi-CIDSS principles provide the very essence of how his governance and project implementation has been administered in the province of Leyte.

“We have been very supportive of Kalahi-CIDSS as it mirrors our idea of a community driven development. The projects are identified by the communities and the implementation is done by the people themselves. This is actually the same process that we have been doing for our community development projects in Leyte,” Gov. Petilla told the mission.

He likewise disclosed that the provincial government has always been supportive of the principle of engaging the community in identifying the projects they most need in the community and including them in the decision making.  Kalahi-CIDSS implementation allows the community to “choose, design, and implement sub-projects that address their most pressing need.”

The governor likewise disclosed that he approved the counterparting scheme employed by Kalahi-CIDDS for each of the project implemented.

“It gives the people and the community a sense of ownership of the project, and not just something that was financed by the province or the national government,” Gov. Petilla added.

Kalahi-CIDSS seeks to empower communities in targeted poor municipalities to achieve improved access to sustainable basic public services and to participate in more inclusive LGU planning and budgeting.

Leyte province, for the Visayas, was among three chosen provinces visited by the ADB Mission. The province was chosen as the provincial government showed the greatest support and stronger engagement since Kalahi-CIDSS started. The other areas visited were Albay for Luzon and Compostela Valley for Mindanao.