BESAO, Mountain Province – Representatives from the Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon (CALABARZON) Region or Region IV-A recently visited this town to learn from the municipality’s experiences in implementing the Kapit-Bisig Laban saKahirapan Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS), a community-driven development program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
The town became famous after being identified as one of the best performers among the 160 municipalities that implemented the Kalahi-CIDSS Program with funding from the Millennium Challenge Corporation of the United States of America and a World Bank loan.
Newly-elected Besao Mayor Johnson Bantog II welcomed the 47 diverse guests that include municipal officials and Kalahi-CIDSS staff from Quezon Province. He told the participants to enjoy and maximize their visit and their time with the volunteers and barangay officials of Besao.
The good practices including the indigenous practices used by Besao in implementing the program attracted attention from other regions, Region IV-A Community Development Specialist Maria PhildaPotes said.
“During national gatherings and program reviews, we keep on hearing about the “longest human chain” and a Besao community volunteer who represented the country during a session of the UN General Assembly in New York City,” Potes added.
The “longest human chain” was an initiative of the town to be able to provide their counterpart for the Kalahi-CIDSS sub-project in Barangay Tamboan. They were able to unite 13 barangays to join the “og-ogbo” or bayanihan in carrying sand from a nearby river. They formed a line from the river to the project site thus the name of the historic event.
Two years ago, Community Volunteer and Barangay Treasurer Elsie Lomong-oy represented the Philippines during the 70th United Nations General Assembly in New York City to share the Besao experiences and lessons learned in implementing a community-driven development program for six cycles of the KALAHI-CIDSS.
After the visit, Potes shared their personal learning to the Kalahi-CIDSS Regional Program Management Office of Kalahi-CIDSS in CAR. Their group visited Barangays Banguitan, Besao West, Kin-iway and Padangaan.
Among Besao’s good practices include the local government strong support for the implementation of Kalahi-CIDSS. The commitment of the municipal inter-agency committee became a facilitating factor in implementing the program.
“Along empowerment, women were engaged in paid labor and received the same salary as men. Elders were provided an opportunity to do productive work during sub-project implementation,” CALABARZON delegates’ feedback also says.
While Besao women have easily adapted to the idea of working on construction, activities Potes said that it is the opposite in her region.
After completing 74 community infrastructure projects, Besao was not exempted from the challenges of sustaining these. Region IV-A identified that some barangays have no functional Operation and Maintenance Group which is supposed to safeguard the sustainability of the community projects.
Besao Municipal Planning and Development Coordinator Modesto Gaab said that implementing the program was not a bed of roses and that they had their own setbacks, like securing 80% participation rate of the community. He added that the municipal government has limited resources too and “the communities have their own limits.”
Gaab further said that few of the projects may not meet some standards but “the most important thing is that the community learned something during the process and have realized that they have some limitations so they can strengthen or improve their skills.”
Besao has implemented the Community Driven Development (CDD) approach since 2010.
By Jasmin P. Kiaso
