Iloilo City – Around 200 Local Chief Executives (LCEs) and development partners from across the Philippines convened in Iloilo City for the 2024 LCE Forum. The event, organized under the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS) Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), took place on November 20-21, 2024.
The two-day forum aimed to engage local government leaders in discussions centered on Community-Driven Development (CDD) and community resilience.
The activity provided a platform for the LCEs, composed of Governors and Municipal Mayors, to review the outcomes of CDD subprojects implemented in their respective communities, evaluate the impacts, and explore future enhancements.
Participants also shared best practices and discussed potential solutions to emerging challenges, integrating community resilience into their development plans and strategies.
A highlight of the event was the introduction of the Philippine Community Resilience Project, also known as “Panahon ng Pagkilos,” set to succeed KALAHI-CIDSS in 2025. The new initiative will focus on strengthening community resilience. The National Program Management Office contextualized the shift to this initiative, following the conclusion of the National Community-Driven Development Program – Additional Financing (NCDDP-AF) this 2024, the largest portfolio under KALAHI-CIDSS.
The forum also featured the Tatak KALAHI-CIDSS Awards, which recognized exemplary Local Government Units (LGUs) for their leadership in establishing subprojects that significantly transformed communities. These awards highlighted the lasting legacy of empowerment and resilience achieved through collective action, demonstrating the LGUs’ commitment to sustainable development and community well-being.
The recognition served as an inspiration for LGUs to renew their commitments to sustainability and their roles in fostering participatory, transparent, and accountable governance through CDD principles. LCEs also affirmed their leadership in ensuring the long-term operation and maintenance of subprojects and pledged support for lobbying the CDD Institutionalization Bill through local resolutions and ordinances.
With over two decades of experience in CDD implementation, the DSWD KALAHI-CIDSS program reiterated its commitment to collaborating with LGUs and development partners to enhance community development efforts across the Philippines.
Since its inception in 2002, the KALAHI-CIDSS program has engaged around 2.8 million community volunteers and completed 91,385 subprojects with an approximate funding of 104.8 billion pesos sourced from foreign-assisted projects and local funding. These initiatives have benefited a total of 24.39 million households nationwide.
Highlighting the impact of the program, Ms. Francis Jean M. Ramos, Representative of Talugtug, Nueva Ecija, and a recipient of the Tatak KALAHI-CIDSS Award, expressed her gratitude and commitment to the initiative. She stated:
“Naging matagumpay ang ginawang LCE forum dahil sa patuloy na pakikipagkaisa at suporta ng mga LGUs at mga LCEs. Maraming salamat po sa DSWD sa patuloy na tulong na naipagkaloob nila sa Bayan po namin at makakaasa po kayo na itataguyod po namin ang CDD approach dito po sa bayan ng Talugtug.”
