appendix d1_keynote speech of secretary corazon juliano-soliman

8/2/2019 Appendix D1_Keynote Speech of Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman

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Appendix D

Regional Conference on Community-Driven Development31 January 2012, Auditorium Zones C and D

ADB Headquarters, Manila, Philippines

Keynote AddressSecretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman

Department of Social Welfare and Development, Philippines

Thank you very much Mr. Xianbin Yao, Mr. Neeraj Jain, and all representatives from 14of ADBs developing member countries, colleagues from development partners andcolleagues from the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

I can see many of my colleagues who are from different regions here now. This is like avery good reunion of advocates and, to a large extent, parents of the Community-DrivenDevelopment (CDD) Community of Practice here in the Philippines and Indonesia. Iwould like to welcome everyone to the Philippines and let me thank the AsianDevelopment Bank for bringing together the experts, researchers, beneficiaries,development agencies, and civil society organizations to share their experiences, best

practices and learnings. This coming together will contribute to the formation of newpartnerships and synergies emerging from gains in the implementation of community-driven development. I recognize the efforts of our partners and stakeholders who areworking vigorously to ensure that growth is inclusive and works for the poor. We arehere to develop stronger platforms for future expansion and competitiveness ofcommunity-driven development.

Making growth work for the poor assumes that the poor themselves are activelyengaged in the development process. It requires an enabling environment that allowsthe poor to participate in the social, economic and political life of society, particularly indecision-making processes. The expansion of their participation in community activitiesprovides them with an opportunity to equitably benefit from the growth process. The

continuous virtuous spiral of empowerment brings them to a self-reliance plane wherethey have more bargaining power to influence the priorities of their local leaders, gaingreater access to resources, and benefit from development outcomes.

I would like to share with you an anecdote. After the first cycle of CDD process in thePhilippines, I went to visit a tribal community in Sarangani Province in Mindanao, whichwas actually part of the group that was awarded a subproject after going through aparticipatory process. To reach the center of the village, the villagers had to walksideways down from the mountain because the path was so narrow. The village made aroad and when I came back and met with some of the leaders, I asked, So, how is theroad? Did it help you? I was expecting to hear, Were very happy because now we canwalk straight and its not dangerous to go down from the village. But what they told me

was something that was very surprising because I never thought of it from thatperspective. They told me, We are very happy with the road because now we can gethot pandesal (a bun) and fresh fish. Now, motorcycles can go up and down. This is thekind of perspective that you will get because its the community that is driving thedevelopment and it is important for them.

Kapit-bisig sa KahirapanComprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services orKALAHI-CIDDS is a CDD Program that the Department of Social Welfare andDevelopment began in 2003. It is a poverty reduction program that aims to reduce


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Appendix D

widespread poverty through the empowerment of citizens and promotion of good localgovernance. KALAHI-CIDSS facilitates broad-based community participation in localgovernment by capacitating ordinary citizens to manage community level planning,budgeting and implementation of projects for improved delivery of basic social services.It also engages local governments to provide contributions for community priorities andto adopt CDD principles in governance. In its 8 years of implementation, KALAHI-

CIDSS has reached 4,583 barangays or villages in 200 municipalities located in 42poorest provinces in the country. A total of Php5.93 billion has been invested in theproject, which has implemented 5,876 community subprojects. These subprojects aresmall infrastructures that improve access to basic social services such as rural roads,rural roads access, rural water supply system, school buildings, barangay healthstations, and day care centers. The unique feature in building these infrastructures is inthe process that was taken to identify, conceptualize, build, and operate them. All of thesubprojects are visible and concrete fruits of a process that we call CommunityEmpowerment Activity Cycle or CEAC. KALAHI-CIDSS significantly improved thewelfare, social capital, and governance in CDD communities based on an impactevaluation of the project in 2010.

At this point, I would like to share with you five major lessons from our experience inimplementing CDD. As I was discussing earlier with Neeraj and Mr. Yao, we learn frommistakes and we will make new mistakes but at least we will try to avoid mistakes thatwere done by others. So, the first lesson -- rigorous targeting methods are required todeliver the benefits of an anti-poverty program. In KALAHI-CIDSS, 32 percent of themunicipalities served have indigenous peoples residents and 19 percent of themunicipalities reached cover of conflict-affected barangays. In barangayassemblies, 40to 60 percent of participants are women, thus paving way for gender empowerment.Second, community participation significantly enhances the effectiveness of localpoverty reduction initiatives. In giving the community a voice and the power to decide inplanning and budgeting processes, their commitment to support the implementation ofpriority development projects is increased. By allowing the people to choose the

projects that will be implemented, it is ensured that government funds are used forinitiatives that are most relevant to project beneficiaries and that sustainability andmaintenance are taken care of. Third, ordinary residents are transformed intocommunity leaders through their training as community volunteers. While the subprojectimproved peoples access to physical assets, involvement in community empowermentactivity cycle enhances human and social capital of our partner beneficiaries. Fourth,corruption or misuse of development funds can be drastically reduced through strongcommunity participation in CDD mechanisms. KALAHI-CIDSS institutionalized peoplesparticipation, transparency and accountability and responsiveness into the localgovernment units systems and procedures. This requires the local government toconsult barangay or village representatives in formulating municipal development plan.Fifth, CDD programs can progress further by devolving local implementation to

responsive LGUs for greater efficiency and effectiveness. The Makamasang TugonorPeoples Response is an effort to transfer the CDD technology to the local governmentin order to institutionalize the principle of inclusive economic growth. One of the ardentadvocates is here with us, Mayor Den, who has been pushing this as part of a nationalstrategy that government will hopefully implement. Well, actually, we have begun thatprocess upon the prodding of 41 local chief executives. Given the lessons that we havelearned from 8 years of KALAHI-CIDSS experience, we are now scaling up CDD as anational strategy for poverty reduction, hoping to learn from our Indonesian colleagues.This year, preparations are underway to expand CDD into a national program.


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The envisioned national CDD program will secure the integration of local empowerment,participatory governance, and improved local capacity. A series of consultations withstakeholders from government and civil society have identified some initial elements ofthe national CDD program or NCDDP. I must say that this has been developed in closecollaboration with the World Bank and now, Asian Development Bank and other

development partners who are in this journey with us. Core elements are expected tocapacitate communities for project implementation, social accountability and communitymanagement of block grant resources. We are hoping that the expansion will advanceintegration with city and municipal local government systems and procedures, includingthose that support improved performance in both governance and poverty reduction anddirectly engage provincial local government structures. We are working closely in theimplementation of the proposed NCDDP on existing national systems and procedures.For example, the Department of the Interior and Local Government or DILG will beexpected to provide monitoring and oversight of all local government units. DILG willtake the lead towards the installation of an incentive system to encourage localgovernments to adopt good governance practices because right now, DILG has what itcalls Seal of Good Governance practice. This is already being done with an incentive

of Php1 million if a local government unit wins the seal given by DILG. The NationalAnti-Poverty Commission and the National Economic and Development Authority willassume responsibility in the evaluation of the programs anti-poverty impacts. TheDepartment of Finance and the Department of Budget and Management will facilitatefiscal transfers and undertake overall financial management. Sector departments inagriculture, agrarian reform, education and health will collaborate to ensure that existingresources are allocated efficiently. In addition to this, it ensures that new investmentsare responsive to local development plans, technical specifications are maintained, andrelevant facility staffing and support are secured.

The NCDDP aims to consolidate interagency convergence efforts such as those ofDepartment of Health, Department of Education, and our own department, DSWD,

because we work together to meet the supply side requirements of the conditional cashtransfer program. So, we want to enhance that tight coordination and bring it in tosupport community-driven development activities.

The NCDDP faces a number of challenges. DSWD recognizes the lack of a more stableand long-term funding for CDD. Certain national government agencies and localgovernment units have yet to fully appreciate and eventually integrate CDD processesinto their usual operations. Right now, the government is determined to move towardsthe full-scale implementation of NCDDP. A transition period will allow the variousstakeholders of the NCDDP to adjust to new expectations and be familiar in their newroles. These include adjusting legislative mandates to provide LGU incentive systemsas part of good governance, generating interagency support to pilot the program, and

creating a training institute on CDD for program implementers. Scaling up CDD is noteasy but the early stages of success showcased by KALAHI-CIDSS and the ARMMSocial Fund, together with the strong demand from our communities and local chiefexecutives will give the NCDDP proposal a strong push. This brings me to the value ofconferences such as this one. I think it is important for us to ground our efforts onexperience.

There has been immense interest in CDD over the last years, which owes to the openingup of many countries to more participatory technologies in addressing poverty.


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Governments across the globe and within the region are facing increasing pressure formore transparent and accountable governance. The CDD approach can bridge thisneed. Our experience at KALAHI-CIDSS is proof that once we allow people todetermine the course of their own development, the energy and culture compelcommunities, local governments and national governments agencies to take moreconcerted action in responding to local needs. I see this as a positive innovation in

addressing poverty because it involves a participatory process where people are part ofcritical decision-making processes.

This space, the Regional Conference on CDD, is important in nurturing a strong cultureof learning and sharing our experiences. We must acknowledge the value of theseexperiences in order to seize the opportunities they present and for us to become betterpolicy leaders, program managers, practitioners and advocates of CDD. No less thanthe Philippine President himself, President Aquino, expressed the need to elevate CDDinto a national strategy. During the People Power Forum on Community-DrivenDevelopment last year, President Aquino said that CDD is not merely an intervention atthe community level. Instead, it transgresses boundaries and benefits the nation as awhole. Again, may this serve as a beginning for all of us to create more avenues for the

poor to participate in social and political activities. This is what CDD is about. It doesnot only make the poor self-reliant, but it makes them active citizens of a nationbenefitting from the development that all of us are working for.

Good day and thank you.

appendix d1_keynote speech of secretary corazon juliano-soliman

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