“If Kalahi-CIDSS provides day care centers and school buildings, then why do we still lack these facilities in many of our barangays here in our province?” remarked Provincial Social Welfare and Development Officer Luz Tacal during the Provincial Advisory Committee (PAC) meeting held on May 23, at the Western Samar Provincial Governor’s Conference Room.

Kalahi-CIDSS Deputy Regional Project Manager Eubolo Co explained that it is not the Project who determines what sub-projects should be implemented.

“It is the community who identifies and selects the sub-project according to their most pressing needs. The sub-project should be agreed upon through a barangay assembly and this should be presented in the Municipal Inter-Barangay Forum: Participatory Development Planning and Resource Allocation or MIBF: PDPRA wherein representatives from all the barangays in the municipality cast their votes for sub-projects to be prioritized”, Co added.

He further stressed that Kalahi-CIDSS is beyond day care centers and school buildings. It provides access to basic social services. Most importantly, beyond these sub-projects is what Kalahi-CIDSS is advocating: to empower the community and improve local governance using the community driven development (CDD) approach.

The PAC meeting is a quarterly activity of the different departments and agencies of the government. It serves as a venue for reporting of updates and activities.

Members of the PAC who attended the meeting were Dennis Bacurio and Linda Agbon of the Provincial Agrarian Reform Office; Henry Madula and Marineth Bacalla of Philheath; Police Senior Superintendent Eusebio Mejos of the Samar Province Police Department; Creole Montallana of the Provincial Accounting/Admin Department; Leticia Guerre of the Samar Department of Education; Dr. Dulce Cernal of the Provincial Health Office and Luz Tacal of the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office.