Malate, Manila—The 2nd National Community Volunteers’ Congress and 4th National Bayani Ka Awards was successfully conducted last October 2-4, 2018 in Cebu City. It was attended by at least 260 community volunteers of DSWD Kalahi-CIDSS and Local Government Unit (LGU) officials from across the country. The event’s theme is “Pagsaulog” a Visayan word which means festivity or celebration. This occasion celebrated the the noteworthy contribution of the Community Volunteers towards the success of the Kalahi-CIDSS program. More so, the occasion hailed the exemplary Kalahi-CIDSS Operation and Maintenance (O&M) groups that were awarded as “Bayani” during each region’s Regional Bayani Ka! Awards. These groups were awarded the prestigious Bayani Ka Award because of their remarkable ways of mobilizing their communities towards a collective community action.
The participants were welcomed by DSWD Field Office 7 Assistant Regional Director for Operations (ARDO) Shalaine Lucero. ARDO Lucero mentioned in her speech the importance of the Community Volunteers in Kalahi-CIDSS. “Walang Kalahi-CIDSS kung wala ang mga masisipag na community volunteers” [There is no Kalahi-CIDSS without the industrious Community Volunteers]. ARDO Shalaine’s speech was followed by the presentation of the current state of the Kalahi-CIDSS program by the National Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist Miss Abegail dela Cruz. This presentation was proceeded with the Communication Specialist Miss Maria Rosario Lagman’s presentation of the current status of Volunteerism in the Philippines. To conclude the first day of the activity, the participants were pampered with free massage and free nail care services courtesy of DSWD Field Office 7.
On the second day, the delegates were divided into three groups to visit the municipalities of Moalboal, Pinamungajan, and Dalaguete in Cebu. The field visit was conducted to serve as an avenue of exchange of knowledge between the community volunteers from the three visited Kalahi-CIDSS municipalities and the delegates of the National Community Volunteers’ Congress.
While the volunteers were on immersion, the LGU officials had an executive meeting with the Municipal Inter-Agency Committee of their visited municipalities. They shared their ideas and strategies on how Community-Driven Development (CDD) could be institutionalized in their respective municipalities.
The volunteers had sessions where they shared their knowledge on their project implementation techniques. They also had discussions about the opportunities given to them because of their involvement with the Kalahi-CIDSS program. Before returning to Cebu City to complete their field visit, the participants went to different sub-project sites in their visited municipalities.
On the last day of the activity, the participants had an open forum on their field immersion with the Community Volunteers from Cebu. The participants shared their learning and their insights. They also committed to share these learning and insights to their co-volunteers once they return to their communities.
In the evening of the last day of Pagsaulog2018, the notable volunteer groups were hailed and honored on the 4th National Bayani Ka! Awards. Almost 106 volunteer groups from nine award categories were honored. ###
