“The Panahon ng Pagkilos Project banks on people’s participation in bringing development to poor communities.”
This was emphasized by Director Bernadette Mapue-Joaquin of the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS) National Program Management Office (NPMO) during an interview on Saturday (May 17) over the DSWD-Teleradyo partnership program, “Serbisyong DSWD for Every Juan”
The Panahon ng Pagkilos or the Philippine Community Risk Resilience Project (PCRRP) is a new modality under the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Kalahi-CIDSS program which employs the community driven development (CDD) approach.
“Ang Panahon ng Pagkilos ay naglalayong ma-empower ang ating mga communities para mapalakas ang kanilang katatagan laban sa ibat ibang risk and vulnerabilities sa kanilang komunidad. Example po ng vulnerabilities ay yung environmental hazards tulad ng flooding, landslide, and coastal inundation. Kasama rin sa risks and vulnerabilities ang life cycle risks tulad ng stunting or pagkabansot,” Director Mapue-Joaquin told the program anchors.
Director Mapue-Joaquin explained that the Panahon ng Pagkilos is taking off from the success of the KALAHI-CIDSS project which has been in existence for more than 2 decades already.
For the last 20 years, the KALAHI-CIDSS has helped poor communities build projects such as school buildings, water systems, foot paths, and improvement of roads.
“Dalawampung-taon na po kasi ang KALAHI-CIDSS. Madami po kasing modalities itong Kalahi-CIDSS. Ang kaibahan po ng PCRRP o Panahon ng Pagkilos, kung dati sa mga programa namin sa Kalahi, ini-increase lang naming ang access to basic service facilities. Kung kailangan ng tubig, we do the water system. Kung kailangan ng school building we do that. But for Panahon ng Pagkilos, aside from providing those basic service facilities, we look into the resilience. Kung water system ba yan, hindi ka basta magtatayo ng water system, titignan mo muna kung prone ba yan sa flooding or inundation ang iyong lugar, ibahin mo ang iyong proyekto or yung lugar,” Director Mapue-Joaquin pointed out.
The KALAHI-CIDSS director said the new modality looks into resiliency factors in the implementation of projects to ensure its sustainability.
The Panahon ng Pagkilos offers a comprehensive menu of projects which the community may propose depending on their needs. Despite having a menu mostly on infrastructure projects, the DSWD official emphasized that the KALAHI-CIDSS program, including the Panahon ng Pagkilos modality, focuses on capacitating the poor communities into contributing for their development.
Director Mapue-Joaquin said: Ang kritikal po dito ay ang DSWD ay hindi infrastructure agency. Ang layunin po niya ay hindi magtayo ng evacuation center. Ang layunin po niya ay ma-empower mo ang mga communities para sila mismo mag identify na ito ang aming pangangailangan sa komunidad namin. Tinuturuan sila gumawa ng project proposal, sila mismo ang nagpo- procure, sila mismo ang nagi-implement, nagmo-monitor at nagsu-sustain ng proyekto pong ito.”
The Panahon ng Pagkilos modality of KALAHI-CIDSS was recently approved for implementation by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Board and will officially start in 2026 until 2030 in 500 municipalities in 49 provinces nationwide. Based on the program, the municipalities are allocated Php50 million each for a three-year implementation.
The DSWD official said the prioritization of the localities to benefit from the Panahon ng Pagkilos was based on poverty incidence, stunting, and environmental risks.
“When we identified the number of municipalities that qualify, we looked at the poverty incidence, stunting, environmental risks, 880 ang nag quality pero kailangan naming i-limit. Kaya nag-prioritize kami, ni-ranking po talaga, iyong top 500 municipalities na pinaka-nangangailangan ang na-identify,” Dir. Mapue-Joaquin told the radio program anchors.
The new project also employs a whole-of-nation approach, utilizing the counterpart help from the local government units (LGUS) as the budget for the project is limited.
The “Serbisyong DSWD for Every Juan” is aired every Saturday from 11:am to 12:00 noon over DWPM and hosted by veteran anchor Alvin Elchicho and DSWD Information Officer Bianca Piedad-Tamondong. (GDVF)