RDC-7 endorses DSWDs Pagkilos project

CEBU, Philippines — The Regional Development Council in Central Visayas (RDC-7) has endorsed the Department of Social Welfare and Development s proposed Panahon ng Pagkilos: Philippine Community Resilience Project.

The Pagkilos project, a five-year initiative set to launch in the third quarter of 2025, aims to strengthen community capacities for participatory resilience planning and increase access to resilience investments in vulnerable areas.

It serves as the successor program to the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS), which has been instrumental in empowering communities to identify and address their priority needs through a community-driven development approach.

Under the KALAHI-CIDSS framework, communities are encouraged to voice their concerns while trained volunteers assist in implementing sub-projects through capacity-building efforts.

According to the DSWD, the program provides equitable access to basic social services in poor communities, enhancing both local officials' and residents' ability to contribute to a fair and inclusive society.

RDC-7 Social Development Committee (SDC) chairperson Dr. Profetiza Lim formally endorsed the Pagkilos Project during the First Quarter RDC Full Council Meeting held in Cebu recently.

The RDC-7 emphasized its role in reviewing and endorsing projects eligible for national government funding or guarantees, ensuring that all proposals undergo necessary local-level consultations and secure approvals from municipal, city, and provincial development councils.

The Full Council s recommendation includes integrating the proposed project into the Central Visayas Regional Development Investment Program (RDIP) 2023-2028.

It also entails endorsing the project to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board-Investment Coordination Committee (ICC) and rationalizing foreign loan-funded community resilience projects. This move seeks to eliminate redundancies, enhance coordination, and ensure efficiency, effectiveness, and coherence in project implementation.

Following RDC-7 s endorsement, the project proposal underwent review by the NEDA-ICC Technical Board before receiving final approval from the ICC Cabinet Committee (ICC CabCom).

Representing DSWD-7 at the RDC-7 Full Council Meeting were Assistant Regional Director for Administration Tonyson Luther S. Lee, Project Evaluation Officer IV Rodina Pangilinan, and Planning Officer IV Genara Burlat. — /FPL (FREEMAN)