More than P560 million fund in the form of “grant” under the Kapit-bisig Laban saKahirapan (Kalahi)-Comprehensive Integrated Delivery of Social Services (CIDSS) is ready to be released to some 30 municipality-beneficiaries as long as they can comply with the prerequisites, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has said.  DSWD regional in close coordination with its branch office and Provincial Social Welfare Development office (PSWDO) conducted July 4th an enrolment forum at JJS Seafood restaurant in this city, briefing municipal mayors and planning officers of the nitty-gritty of the program, with Gov. Edgar M. Chatto and DSWD assistant regional director Nemia Antipala in attendance. The biggest slice of the pie (grant) is for Inabanga town with PhP77,923,000and the smallest is San Isidro's P18,250,000 based on the criteria set by the DSWD.

Under the 377 category of municipalities, included are the towns of Alicia -- Php44,570,000; Anda – Php30,436,000; Antequera – Php23,169.000; Bilar – Php30,776,400; Buenavista – Php54,062,000; Candijay – Php58,086,000; Catigbian –Php45,372,000; Clarin – Php32,473,000; Guindulman – Php44,504,000; Lila – Php21,579,000; Loay – Php26,017,000; Loboc – Php26,099,000; Mabini –Php56,348,000; Pilar – Php53,774,000; Prs. C.P. Garcia – Php46,574,000; Sagbayan – Php36,163,000; San Miguel –Php47,148,000; Sevilla – Php20,886,000; and Valencia – Php55,172,000.

 Other towns included under the so-called 177 class are: Calape – Php13,716,430; Carmen – Php22,662,080; Jagna – Php12,700,740; Loon – Php16,692,000; Maribojoc – Php10,655,320; Trinidad – Php14,990,560; Tubigon – Php17,511,780; and Ubay – Php26,000,000. Municipalities under 377 are those towns in the country which said to be “poor and Yolanda-affected” while under 177 nomenclature are those “non-poor but Yolanda-affected towns. No Bohol town fall under the so-called 293 “poor but non-Yolanda-affected towns.” DSWD said that 17 other towns in Bohol not included this year's list of recipients can avail of the same (grant) next year. The said grant is courtesy of the World Bank (WB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) intended to help 59 provinces with 847 municipalities; 19,697 barangays and 5.4 households under the Kalahi-CIDSS National Community-driven Development program (NCDDP), DSWD said.

 The program aims to make town/barangay “empowered to achieved improved access to services and to participate in more inclusive local planning, budgeting and implementation” in the hope of reducing poverty in the countrysides because “decision-making resides in the communities,” DSWD said. One of the criteria for a municipality to avail of the fund grant is the poverty incidence (PI), which refers to “families with per capita income less than the per capita poverty threshold to the total number of families.” Other criteria include the following:  4th-6th class town --- with poverty incidence higher than the national average of 26.5%; 1st – 3rd class town --- with 40% PI or higher; and those towns affected by Yolanda and other disasters occurred in 2013 within the NCDDP province regardless of PI, DSWD said. The municipalities concerned are given a timeline to submit other requirements prior to downloading of the grant particularly the submission of an approved municipal Resolution authorizing the municipal mayor to sign documents relative to the availing of the fund.

 The would-be beneficiaries have to undergo stages of processes like the community empowerment action cycle (CEAC), DSWD said. But the said grant is not without local counterpart. The Local counterpart contribution (LCC) of highly urbanized towns/cities is 30% of the total project cost per National Budget Memorandum No. 121 dated March 18, 2014. Other cities --- 20%; 1st to 3rd class municipalities --- 15%; and 4th to 6th class --- 5%. The mode of procurement includes bidding, community shopping and community contracting and implementation could be by contract, consultancy services or by administration, also known as community force account, DSWD said. The projects to be funded by the grant include: construction, repair o upgrading of the following: access barangay roads, foot bridge/cable bridge, pathways for pedestrian, schools/classrooms, day care centers, health centers, rural electrification, small-scale irrigation system, sanitation (toilets) and flood control. Mayor Ma. Fe Piezas of Guindulman and Mayor Rosemarie Imboy of Loay said in separate interview that the grant is “good” that they take advantage of for the development of their respective constituency. (RVO)