Koronadal City—New school, hanging cable footbridge, water system and community market are just among the social infrastructure projects now being benefited by the residents in the remote villages of Kalamansig, a coastal town of Sultan Kudarat province.

Gemma N. Rivera, assistant regional director of DSWD Region 12 said that the projects, which completed with the collaborative efforts of the local government unit and community-beneficiaries, are considered as most pressing needs of town.

“These projects are considered to be the top priority of Kalamansig villagers after they were given the opportunity to choose which barangay and their respective projects will avail the funds through Kalahi-CIDSS,” Rivera said.

Kalahi-CIDSS, according to Rivera, is one of the flagship poverty-reduction programs of the agency that provides support to the poorest among the poor towns through grassroots empowerment activities and by financing proposed projects of communities.

Eight villages are now benefiting the projects amounting to P8.1 million, which started its implementation in 2015, Rivera added. and Sangay.

Rivera said that another 14 villages in Kalamansig are now trained in preparation for the second cycle of sub-project implementation, which most of these projects are locate in the remote and mountainous villages of the town.

Kalahi-CIDSS, which stands for Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan- A Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services, is a World Bank-funded program that utilizes the community-driven development (CDD) as a strategy.

This means that community residents are given the opportunity to take active role in governance including planning, budgeting, implementing, monitoring and sustaining their chosen projects and development initiatives of the barangay. (Hilbert T. Estacion, regional social marketing officer, DWSD 12)