TAGAYTAY CITY, Cavite- The Municipal Coordinating Team (MCT), the local counterpart of the field staff of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s program- Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi – CIDSS) were re-oriented on the first two stages of the community driven development process of the program.

The two day seminar was attended by 200 participants (47 from Romblon Cluster; 59 from Mindoro, Marinduque, Conception and Banton (MiMaCon) Cluster; and 94 from Palawan Cluster) across MiMaRoPa. Two classes divided into sessions were simultaneously held in Bali Village Hotel (MiMaCon) cluster) and Tagaytay Haven Hotel (Romblon Cluster) in Tagaytay City in March 3 and 4, 2016 while the seminar in Palawan cluster was held at Sunlight Guest Hotel on March 7 to 8, 2016.

The Municipal Coordinating Teams were composed of Municipal Area Coordinator (MAC), Municipal Engineer/ Municipal Technical Facilitator (ME/MTF), Municipal Community Empowerment Facilitator (MCEF), and Municipal Accountant (MA).

The program was started by the opening message from the Deputy Regional Program Manager of Kalahi CIDSS National Community Driven Development Program (NCDDP) Irenea Liza Roque. Miss Roque reminded the MCTs that they should work hand-in hand with the Area Coordinating Teams in their respective areas. In addition, she acknowledged the accomplishments of the teams and told them about their roles in empowering the people in the communities of MiMaRoPa.

“Let the people participate, let the people be part in the decision making in the government” Miss Roque reminded the participants.

The first day has focused on the introduction of Kalahi CIDSS process to the MCT. The Community Development Officers and the Regional Community Development Specialists served as the resource persons in the introduction of the community driven development (CDD) approach and the community empowerment activity cycle (CEAC) process to the MCTs.

The Community Infrastructure Officers, the Regional Community Infrastructure Specialists, and the Monitoring and Evaluation Officers has also discussed to the MCTs the technical aspects of the program such as the utilization of the Technical Assistance Fund (TAF), the conduct of the site validation for the sub-project, and the overview of Monitoring and Evaluation of Kalahi CIDSS- specifically geotagging of sub-projects, Project Information Management System, and the Grievance Redress System (GRS).

On the second day, the discussion about the CEAC process continued. In the afternoon, the MCTs from the Romblon Cluster were given a chance to raise their issues and concerns to the Regional Program Manager of Kalahi – CIDSS and the Assistant Regional Director for Operations of DSWD MiMaRoPa Floreceli G. Gunio regarding the implementation of Kalahi – CIDSS in their area. Some of the major issues that arise in the meeting were the accomplishments of the backlogs of the municipalities before their transition into the next cycle.

Being the counterpart of the LGU to Kalahi CIDSS, seminars for the MCTs can serve as a strategic instrument in the institutionalization of the CDD process in the governance strategy of the MCTs respective LGUs.

This seminar will be followed by the next re-orientation of the MCTs on the third and fourth stages of CEAC after the second quarter of this year. ###