Tanauan, Leyte – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is one of the partners of the Japanese Government to rehabilitate  74 municipalities in Eastern Visayas, the region that was hit hardest by Typhoon Yolanda last year.

The Japanese Government through the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR) is providing  a US$20-million grant for the rehabilitation effort. Some 1.2 million individuals will benefit from the assistance.

Of this amount, US$3 million will be used for rehabilitation projects to be implemented through the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS), one of the three core poverty alleviation programs of the DSWD.

Kalahi-CIDSS targets the speedy recovery of 220 small-scale municipal and community infrastructures in 13 municipalities using the community-driven development (CDD) strategy, a development approach that focuses on empowering and building up the capacities of citizens and local government units so they will be able to lift their own communities out of poverty.

The partnership   started with the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a two-classroom building within the compound of  Bislig Elementary School  earlier this month.

Aside from the construction of the new classrooms,  10 old classrooms will also be repaired with a budget of P7.08 million.

DSWD Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman cited the good Kalahi-CIDSS implementation of  this town as the reason why it was chosen as one of the municipalities that will benefit from the JFPR grant, saying that the community involvement of the residents was proof of their commitment to become an active part in the rehabilitation process.

She said, “Kayo mismo ang tumayo, kayo mismo ang kumilos  (You were the ones who rose and acted),” addressing the townfolks during the groundbreaking.

She said that Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Takehiko Nakao visited Bislig Elementary School in February during which he committed to help in the rehabilitation of the campus. The ADB  is the administrator of the JFPR grant.

For his part, James A. Nugent,  Director-General of the ADB Southeast Asia Department, said that the reason why ADB is highly active in the post-‘Yolanda’ rehabilitation efforts is because the Philippines is “ADB’s home”, echoing the bank’s president in an earlier statement.

Likewise, the DSWD will allot US$8 million from the JFPR grant  for its  Sustainable Livelihood Program, another poverty alleviation program.

The funds will be used to provide access to emergency employment and livelihood support. This seeks to cover one million individuals in 912 barangays in 20 municipalities with an average of 35.5% poverty incidence. ###