(In front) Donna Osial of DSWD, orients the press about KALAHI CIDSS project in Legazpi City during the media visit in Bitano last April 30, 2014
Legazpi City- The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) conducted a media visit at Bitano, Legazpi City last April 30, 2014 to showcase the accomplished projects under Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI CIDSS).
The visit were participated in by media practitioners of Legazpi City from TV, print and broadcast to give them the opportunity to monitor the project and interview the community implementers and beneficiaries. DSWD staff Donna Osial gave an overview about the project and provided updates on its implementation during the visit.
Previously, KALAHI CIDSS has been implemented in rural areas. However, the urban version of KALAHI CIDSS has been implemented in Legazpi City for one year which started last 2013 which is nearing its completion by May this year.
The said project is the pilot implementation in Luzon wherein Rawis and Bitano were given 1 million pesos each from World Bank to address poverty issues in the said communities. It aims develop and pilot test an urban poverty reduction approach and generate lessons to enhance the design of KALAHI CIDSS for future scale-up.
The selection was based on the poverty incidence of 2009 (NSCB data) wherein Legazpi City has 30.7%. The data from National Household Targeting System (NHTS) or commonly known as Listahanan, revealed that Rawis and Bitano have the highest number of poor household in Legazpi City.
“So siguro carefully studied man kan DSWD kung saen talaga malaog ang intervention kan government and maswerte ang Bitano ta igwa sindang Barangay Officials headed by Punong Barangay Balinis” Anacito Dematera of Philippine Star, one of the participants said.
Moreover, the community subprojects in Rawis and Bitano were:
| Name of Community Subprojects | Total Project Cost | Grant | Local Counterpart Contribution |
| BITANO, LEGAZPI CITY | |||
| Construction of Bitano Community Development Center (BCDC) | PhP 1,260,510.00 | PhP 924,230.00 | PhP 336,280.00 |
| Dressmaking Training NCII | PhP 138,010.00 | PhP 64,510.00 | PhP 73,500.00 |
| Human Resource Development (HRD) | PhP 77,980.00 | PhP 11,260.00 | PhP 66,720.00 |
| RAWIS, LEGAZPI CITY | |||
| Construction of RAWIS LIVELIHOOD CENTER | PhP 1,110,765.00 | PhP 899,903.00 | PhP 210,862.00 |
| Dressmaking Training NCII | PhP 159,000.00 | PhP 100,097.00 | PhP 58,903.00 |
| Provision of Padyak and Banka | PhP 159,000.00 | PhP 100,097.00 | PhP 58,903.00 |
According to Brgy. Capt. Joel M. Balinis, he will allocate funds for the maintenance of their project from their annual budget.
KALAHI CIDSS is one of the anti-poverty programs under DSWD that aims to improve local governance, empower local communities and reduce poverty.
Since 2003, KALAHI CIDSS has been implemented in more than 40 poor municipalities and 1,334 communities in Bicol region. ##nelsonosialjr