Posted on by Jomara Chan

Pugo Mayor Balloguing recognizes the mark of community empowerment in Pugo through people participation during the Kalahi-CIDSS sub-project prioritization.
Pugo Mayor Balloguing recognizes the mark of community empowerment in Pugo through people participation during the Kalahi-CIDSS sub-project prioritization.

Five infrastructure sub-project proposals from the empowered communities of the Municipality of Pugo, La Union were recently prioritized to be funded by DSWD’s Kalahi-CIDSS’ Program. With a total of P6.6M municipal grant allocation for Pugo for 2015, a Barangay Health Station, Day Care Center,2 School Buildings, and an access road will be constructed in Pugo.

Kalahi-CIDSS is one of the three pro-poor program of the Philippine government implemented through the DSWD to empower communities in the 11 Kalahi-CIDSS municipalities in Region 1 to have access to social services and participate in the identification, decision-making, and implementation of projects that will address the communities’ needs to uplift their way of living, through a transparent planning, budgeting, and implementation of projects to uphold development.

Attended by community volunteers from the 14 barangays of Pugo, the Kalahi-CIDSS Program of the DSWD conducted the pilot of one of Kalahi-CIDSS program implementation highlights which is the Municipal Inter-Barangay Forum-Participatory Resource Allocation (MIBF-PRA). It is an activity where Kalahi-CIDSS Barangay Representation Teams (BRTs) gather to prioritize, by voting, proposed infrastructure projects by the barangays to be funded by Kalahi-CIDSS.

In partnership with the Municipal local government unit of Pugo, Mayor Orlando B. Balloguing expressed his support for the Program after witnessing the demonstration of empowerment by his constituents which he sees as an advantage for Pugo to move forward towards development. Mayor Balloguing’s commitment to the Program has been felt through his participation in Kalahi-CIDSS Municipal activities and his openhanded provision of counterparts to ensure smooth operation of the Program in his area.

On the other hand, Manolito, T. Abellera, 49 years old, a Kalahi-CIDSS Project Preparation Team (PPT) volunteer from Brgy Maoasoas Sur, the first of the 5 prioritized barangays in Pugo, said he felt the importance of Kalahi-CIDSS in Pugo because it is the only Program he knows that implements projects that are community-based. “Masaya kami ng mga ka-bvarangay ko kasi naprioritize na mapondohan ng Kalahi-CIDSS ang barangay health station na penropose namin. Nakikita ko na ang katuparan ng matagal na naming pangarap sa aming barangay na magkaroon ng malulusog na mamamayan kasi naniniwala kaming iyon ang sagot sa aming kahirapan (My barangay coonstituents and I are happy that our proposed barangay health station has been prioritized to be funded by Kalahi-CIDSS. I am seeing the realization of our dream for our barangay that is to have healthy people because we believe that it is the answer to our hardships.)” (by: Jomara S. Chan, Kalahi-CIDSS Social Marketing Officer)