It was only a hearsay.

Most of the people in Sagrada, Viga, a remote community in the province of Catanduanes, did not believe that a community project managed by the people will come into a fruition.

In 2012, the said community conducted a community research and identified the construction of water system as the most needed facility to provide access of potable water for its 146 households who get their water from the spring.

Maricel Tusi, one of the residents, confirmed that onset of Kapit- Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS), a DSWD program that seeks to help alleviate poverty through community-driven development (CDD), the people strongly refuted that they will receive a project funded by the government.

“Hindi pa naniniwala dati ang mga tao. Drawing lang daw ito sabi nila (They don’t believe [in Kalahi-CIDSS]. They say it’s not true),” she added.

On the other hand, people participation is the top requirement to avail funds from Kalahi-CIDSS for the construction of projects. In Sagrada, the result of the diminutive participation of its residents and lack of their interest in barangay assemblies, trainings, seminars and meetings got them a low ranking out of the 31 barangays in Viga during the prioritization of communities. Consequently, the said community was not able to get the funding during that time.

Tusi, also an elected volunteer to implement Kalahi-CIDSS, was not discouraged by the unfavorable result. She and the other volunteers continued to fight for the same project for the following year and complied with all the requirements and improved the involvement of their neighbors.

Thus, they got the funding of P1,599,360.00 to construct 15 tap stands in 2014 wherein each tap stand caters to 10 households.

Tusi was not only grateful to see the project completed, she also commended her colleagues because of their commitment and trust to the program.

“Naturuan po ang aming komiunidad na magsama-sama patungo sa kaunluran (We were taught in the community to come together towards development),” she said.

She also learned how to deal with different people from various statures to which she considered as a volunteer’s challenge making her a better woman who expresses ideas for the benefit of their village.

Tusi became a Kalahi-CIDSS volunteer last 2012 and was elected as a volunteer under the Project Preparation Team (PPT) and Procurement Team (PT) and also became a bookkeeper for their water system project.

In Sagrada, the faucets could have never released potable supply of water in the community without the people who believed that they can make the hearsay true.