The Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS), a program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), is set to conduct its 2nd “Bayani Ka!” Awards today in Manila.
The ceremony is intended to recognize the efforts of volunteers and local government units (LGUs) to implement the program within their respective towns.
As a community-driven development (CDD) program, Kalahi-CIDSS strives to help alleviate poverty by mobilizing different sectors of society, particularly the grassroots, so they, in partnership with their LGUs, can be able to respond to their villages’ communal concerns.
The “Bayani Ka!” Awards, which started in 2014, is intended to recognize the exemplary efforts of Kalahi-CIDSS community volunteers and LGU-partners in ensuring not only the completion of their identified sub-projects, but also in actively supporting citizen participation in local governance and poverty alleviation initiatives.
Winners of the “Bayani Ka!” Awards include Marcelo Gusanan from Columbio, Sultan Kudarat, who led his fellow B’laans in implementing Kalahi-CIDSS in their town, and thus helped in raising and addressing the concerns of Indigenous Peoples.
Another winner is Abello Frias from Mobo, Masbate, who braved a storm despite a high fever just to file documents so his community can get the project they long needed.
Mary Fe Antones of La Libertad, Negros Oriental is another community volunteer whose efforts will be recognized in the awarding ceremony.
Three awards will also be given for LGUs. At the barangay level, the local government of Barangay Sto. Cristo in Quezon Nueva Ecija, led by Barangay Captain Narcisa Dagdagan Paraso, will be recognized because of its effort to link with other institutions to help them implement their Kalahi-CIDSS project.
The municipality of Catanauan, Quezon, led by Mayor Ramon Orfanel, will also be recognized for providing technical and financial assistance in the implementation of Kalahi-CIDSS in their town, as well as exerting effort to ensure that marginalized sectors are included in the decision-making process.
Compostela Valley, led by Governor Arturo Uy, will also be given a “Bayani Ka!” award for its ATU-PEACE program, which adopted the CDD process of Kalahi-CIDSS.
“Through the efforts of our community volunteers and our partner local government units, we are able to implement small-scale infrastructure projects under Kalahi-CIDSS that address the residents’ basic needs. Their hard work is literally priceless: not only because they do not get paid for their efforts, but also because their initiatives allow the entire community to enjoy the benefits of their projects. For this reason alone, we can call them modern-day heroes,” DSWD Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman said. ###
