By Hilbert Estacion/PNA
GENERAL SANTOS CITY — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has implemented at least 179 community-based infrastructure and support projects worth PHP275.75 million last year in Region 12 (Soccsksargen).
Gemma Rivera, DSWD-12 assistant regional director, said Friday the projects were part of the continuing rollout in the region of its flagship socio-economic program “Kapitbisig Laban sa Kahirapan -Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services” (Kalahi-CIDSS).
Rivera said these projects, which were all completed before the end of 2018, currently benefit some 103,000 poor households in the region.
“These were considered as among the most pressing needs of the beneficiary-communities and enabled them to access various basic social services of the government and other organizations,” Rivera said.
The official said most of the completed projects were implemented in “far-flung, geographically-isolated and disadvantaged” areas of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, and North Cotabato.
Among the completed projects were school buildings pre-and post-harvest facilities, health stations, solar lighting systems, potable water systems, core shelters and road rehabilitation and concreting, she said.
Under the program, she said residents identified and proposed the projects based on the needs of their communities with the assistance of various government agencies and local government units.
“These are fruits of collaborative efforts. Our goal here is not just simply putting up physical projects but also invest on human capital through capacity-building activities,” she said.
Kalahi-CIDSS is one of the core poverty-alleviation programs of the government that is being implemented by DSWD-12 in all four provinces and five cities of Soccsksargen.
It uses the community-driven development approach, which enables communities in targeted poor and disaster-affected municipalities to identify their own needs, and collectively implement and manage solutions for them.
