At least 3,106 barangays in 106 municipalities of Bicol Region were trained on Enhanced Participatory Barangay Development Planning (EPBDP) from August to October 2023 with a training cost of PhP 30,911,446.31.

In partnership with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) through the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of  Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS), Department of the Interior and Local Government and Local Government Academy, the municipal rollout of the training was conducted in three (3) to five (5) days for 135 batches.

The EPBDP aims to capacitate local community leaders in crafting the Barangay Development Plans wherein some activities or processes of Community-Driven Development (CDD) approach particularly Participatory Situational Analysis (PSA) are integrated in the ten-step development planning process.

“The conduct of the rollout training is an initiative of the Department to ensure the institutionalization of CDD approach as well as foster active community participation in ensuring that the development projects at the barangay level are in accordance with the priorities of community members,” Regional Director Norman S. Laurio said.

The regional director also cited that the regionwide rollout of the training was made possible because of the steadfast cooperation of the Local Government Units and partner agencies in ensuring the active participation of the barangay

officials specifically, barangay chairpersons, secretaries, treasurers, and people’s organizations.

Franklin T. Toledana, Municipal Planning and Development Coordinator of Bato, Catanduanes and one of the trainers of the municipal rollout of EPBDP shared the impact of integrating the CDD approach in the Barangay Development Planning process.

“The process of CDD nakatulong talaga sa mga barangays in the identification up to the implementation of projects,” he said.

(The process of CDD greatly helped communities in the identification up to the implementation of projects.)

KALAHI-CIDSS is a poverty alleviation program that helps communities in poor municipalities to identify challenges in poverty and implement developmental projects using the CDD approach.