The Department of Social Welfare and Development Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (DSWD Kalahi-CIDSS) allocated PhP141,768,300.00 worth of community projects to the 15 municipalities of Bicol Region in response to the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

According to Regional Director Arnel Garcia, the 15 municipalities were selected based on income class, poverty incidence, population, performance of the Local Government Unit (LGU) in the previous cycles and non-implementation of fourth cycle of the program.

The 15 municipalities and fund allocations are as follow: Pandan (PhP8,726,850.00), Bato (PhP7,993,600.00), San Miguel (PhP5,642,800.00), Panganiban (PhP3,895,200.00), Baras (PhP4,897,200.00) in Catanduanes; Sta. Magdalena (PhP6,608,000.00), Casiguran (PhP12,398,000.00), Barcelona (PhP8,136,000.00), Castilla (PhP18,516,050.00) in Sorsogon; Dimasalang (PhP11,360,250.00), Baleno (PhP9,760,400.00) in Masbate; Vinzons (PhP14,670,250.00), San Lorenzo Ruiz (PhP5,666,400.00) in Camarines Norte; Lupi (PhP10,541,300.00) and Canaman (PhP12,956,000.00) in Camarines Sur.

“Meanwhile, the allocation for each municipality was computed based on the income class, poverty incidence and population,” Director Garcia explained.

Last June 4, the program announced the shift of program implementation from Local Government Unit (LGU)-led implementation to Disaster Response Operations Procedure (DROP) to assist in the recovery and rehabilitation of communities from the crisis.

The sub-projects that are eligible for funding under the COVID-19 Disaster Response are Cash-For-Work (CFW) for community volunteers or residents, training of Barangay COVID-19 Response Team, retrofitting or refurbishing of identified public buildings as temporary isolation space, procurement of Department of Health (DOH)-approved medical tools and equipment, procurement of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), hygiene kits, sanitation and cleaning supplies.

Using the principles of CDD, the community will be consulted on the possible projects to be implemented based on their needs. The DROP implementation will roll-out this June 2020. /ramsertan/