A well-informed community is the key towards a successful and thriving society.

It is in this premise that the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Sevices (Kalahi-CIDSS) Region III conducted a participative Municipal Talakayan in General Mamerto Natividad, Nueva Ecija, January 31.

“We are conducting this Municipal Talakayan to equip everyone with the needed information about the current state of the municipal government in General Mamerto Natividad. These information that were provided by the different departments of your municipality will become helpful in your future decision making,” said Ms. Marell Wong, Regional Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist of Kalahi-CIDSS Region III.

Kalahi-CIDSS, a community-empowerment program of the Department of the Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), called on to the community volunteers, barangay and municipal local government unit (B/MLGU) officials, and municipal inter-agency committee (MIAC) members to attend today’s event and learn about the current state of the municipal government of General Mamerto Natividad, Nueva Ecija.

“Ang Kalahi-CIDSS ay isang programang direktang tumutulong sa mismong barangay. Ang LGU ay narito lamang upang gumabay at magbigay ng kinakailangang tulong,” said Municipal Mayor Librado L. Santos as he acknowledged the role of the program in the overall empowerment of the communities.

The forum included four (4) sessions tackling about the background of the municipality, existing municipal projects, state of socio-economic development and people empowerment in the community, and the presentation of the municipal plans and future activities. After these sessions, the attendees participated in a gallery walk of photos and graphs of relevant information about the municipality.

After the gallery walk, the participants who were divided into four (four) groups, (community volunteers, BLGU members, MIAC members, citizens), were actively engaged in a focused group discussions.

The Municipal Talakayan ended in a synthesis, evaluation, and open forum where the participants freely expressed their insights, recognitions, and concerns about several aspects of governance in the municipality.### (Ma. Dennielle M. Lomboy)