KABAYAN, Benguet – Around 60 partner beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program joined the labor force of Kalahi-CIDSS implementers to complete the community footpath sub-project in Sitio Besocol, Ballay, Kabayan, on April 25, 2018.
Kalahi-CIDSS or the Kapit-bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is one of the Department’s poverty reduction programs which promotes development through community participation, transparency and improved local governance.
The Pantawid Pamilya partner beneficiaries came from the different sitios of Barangay Ballay, Kabayan but have travelled to the said sitio to help fast-track the completion of the sub-project targeted to be finished on April 30, 2018.
DSWD Municipal Action Team Leader Marivil Limong said that the Pantawid Pamilya partner beneficiaries responded favorably when they were requested to join the paid labor for the footpath during the barangay’s regular monthly meeting.
This was agreed by Barangay Sub-Project Management Committee Chairperson (BSPMC) Freido Panas who said that they need laborers especially on the manual hauling of aggregates from the road to the project sites which is located amidst the farms of the residents.
“Since it rains every afternoon, we need as many laborers who can work for half a day everyday so that we can finish the project on its target date of completion,” Mr. Panas added.
The proposed footpath in Sitio Besocol is a little more than one (1) kilometer and the labor cost is pegged at 284, 720.18 pesos. The footpath is the longest among the seven community footpath being built in seven sitios of the barangay.
Mr. Panas said that they proposed the concreting of their footpath to address the danger it poses to farmers who use the route, whenever it rains. “The footpath is being used by farmers to ferry their products from their farms to the main road,” he continued.
He added that the footpath would help decrease the travel time and maybe the labor cost for ferrying vegetable products such as potatoes, cabbages and carrots.
Worth more than 2.8 million pesos, the total length of footpath in the different sitios of Barangay Ballay is 3.397 kilometers.
Further, with around 868 thousand pesos allotted for paid labor, which includes manual hauling of materials and aggregates, the sub-project also generated temporary employment for the residents of the barangay.
Barangay Ballay and Barangay Luzod were prioritized under Cycle 3 of DSWD Kalahi-CIDSS which started on August 2017.
The municipality of Kabayan will receive around 6.4 Million fund from the program to implement their proposed Cycle 3 sub-projects.
By Jasmin Kiaso