Tacloban City – President Aquino is on a crusade to institutionalize people’s power. The President’s theme echoes the objectives of the KALAHI-CIDSS Program, which are Participation, Transparency, and Accountability or P-T-A.

The KALAHI-CIDSS Program of the DSWD ascribes to community practices that ensure people’s participation in decision-making, transparency of processes, and accountability of project stakeholders and that these are adopted and mainstreamed in local governance.

According to DSWD Field Office Eight Regional Director Leticia Diokno, the positive response to the KALAHI-CIDSS community enhanced activity cycle at the municipal and barangay levels stemmed from the people’s involvement and the local government units’ supportive role of the Program.

Director Diokno also disclosed that the community-driven development technology is   also eyed as a national strategy; if this will be realized, all government agencies will be using this technology. Director Diokno also added that municipalities that have implemented KALAHI-CIDSS have passed resolutions to adopt KALAHI-CIDSS processes that allow people’s voices to be heard.

Director Diokno also added that if community-driven development will be adopted as a strategy by government agencies, the people in municipalities that have gone through processes of the program are more than ready to embrace the technology because they have already experienced the positive impact of participation in decision-making, transparency in all transactions, and accountability.

As of this report, 72 municipalities benefited from the KALAHI-CIDSS Program region-wide. From this number, 11 are new municipalities; 9 in Samar, and one each for Northern Samar and Eastern Samar. Also this year, 23 municipalities, all previously KALAHI-CIDSS municipalities are now implementing the Makamasang Tugon modality, a prize for municipalities that have executed the KALAHI-CIDSS Program satisfactorily.