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The local government unit of Catigbian in Bohol has minimal capital to construct isolation facilities and purchase communication devices for grassroots community workers. Through their engagement with the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS), they have received community projects that will manage solutions to these needs.

Community Development Officer III, Engr. Sharon Escabarte, leads the symbolic turnover of isolation facilities to local officials of Catigbian and distribution of the communication devices.

On January 27, 2023, KALAHI-CIDSS successfully turned over two isolation facilities worth Php 11.9 million each to Barangays Poblacion Weste and Baang, both were complete with amenities such as patient’s waiting area, staff quarter, nurse station, and kitchen, laundry, donning, and utility areas.

Supplemental to these facilities are communication devices for information dissemination worth Php 3.6 million that include handheld radios, repeaters, sound systems, and megaphones that were eventually distributed to the 19 barangay communities in Catigbian.

The presence of KALAHI-CIDSS in Catigbian shows not only improved access to basic social services but also builds the capacity of both the state and civil society to respond to the calls for support from poor communities as they implement the projects deemed necessary for development.

Municipal Mayor Elizabeth Madin-Pace shares her gratitude towards DSWD for leading the way towards people’s empowerment while at the same time benefiting her community on a larger scale. “Mao kini ang mga problema nato panahon sa COVID-19 pandemic. Ang KALAHI-CIDSS, miabag kanato aron matubag kining mga panginahanglanon ug magamit sa daghang katawhan (These are our problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. KALAHI-CIDSS helped us meet these needs so that our people could benefit from them),” she said.

LGU Catigbian identified the barangay health workers of Poblacion Weste and Baang and barangay “tanods” in the 19 barangays as the recipient of these completed sub-projects. For the Catigbian mayor, the isolation facilities will become the new hub for medical services in her town, while it will be beneficial for the barangay patrollers, or “tanods,” to effectively respond to emergencies at all times with their newly acquired equipment.

She added, “akong gilauman nga pinaagi niining mga proyekto, mas modaghan pa ang maserbisyohan sa atoang lokal nga panggamhanan ug magamit kini panahon sa kalamidad (I hope through these projects, more people will be served by the local government, especially during calamities).”

The completion of these sub-projects is a result of the KALAHI-CIDSS’ comprehensive delivery of social services to poor municipalities by increasing the possibility of good governance where people have the chance to identify their needs and make informed decisions for development led by the Barangay Development Council-Technical Working Group (BDC-TWG), composed of community volunteers and barangay local officials who oversee the planning, budgeting, and implementation.

KALAHI-CIDSS Community Development Officer III, Engr. Sharon S. Escabarte, who spearheaded the turnover of the completed isolation facilities and distribution of the communication devices, cited the importance of the community volunteers in the realization of their projects.

Façade of the 8-unit KALAHI-CIDSS isolation facility in Barangay Poblacion Weste.

“Through the KALAHI-CIDSS program of DSWD, the local government unit of Catigbian doesn’t have to borrow from other institutions and carry the burden of deciding who will implement the projects because of the presence of the KALAHI-CIDSS and its community volunteers,” cites Escabarte.

Escabarte added that these projects are intended for the COVID-19 pandemic, but once the state of calamity in the country is lifted, Catigbian LGU, together with the communities involved in the project, will have the discretion to repurpose the completed isolation facilities.

“I encourage all the volunteers and even the recipients of these projects to join the planning on how the projects will be used later on. When that time comes, these facilities can be used as an office or an evacuation center for Catigbian disaster response,” she emphasized.

For LGU Catigbian, these completed sub-projects are response to their long desire for immediate and effective emergency response but for KALAHI-CIDSS, the interventions given to community volunteers and local officials are designed to engage and encourage participation as well as leadership among members of the community. ###

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