The DSWD V project team representing the local government of Pilar, Sorosgon received a national recognition for the construction of a day care facility funded by Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) which was awarded in Hotel La Breza, Quezon City last July 25, 2013.

Pilar was acknowledged for their best practice on supervision and quality control for the completion of the day care center in the coastal community of Bantayan in a span of 50 days ensuring quality based on the standards.

Though Bantayan was a first-timer in implementing a community-managed subproject, the convergent efforts of the volunteers, barangays council, local government of Pilar and DSWD technical staff filled in the gaps by establishing strong coordination among them.

To ensure quality, the volunteers and the barangay council were trained on procurement and community financial management system. Moreover, the barangay council members took turns in actual monitoring, the punong barangay came regularly that caused the workers to become committed in completing the day care center on time.

The construction of the day care center started on January 26 and finished on March 17, 2013 so that they will be able to use the facility when school opens in June. The old day care center was a makeshift classroom which is a DepEd property located within the elementary school. It was overcrowded wherein 42 day care pupils attend the morning session while there are 39 pupils in the afternoon.

AusAID provides grants for the construction of classrooms, school buildings and day care centers which is considered as the supply side of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) for non-prioritized communities who previously implemented the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS) project. AusAID and Kalahi-CIDSS is anchored on the community-driven development (CDD) strategy wherein local communities are involved in the design and implementation of development projects to address the issues of poverty.

AusAID provided a grant of Php654,324 plus a local counterpart contribution of 115,469.00 (in-kind/cash) from the municipality and community for the construction of the day care center in Bantayan.###jmarbella