PH channels P2B in US grant to poor provinces

The Philippines already released a US government grant worth P2 billion to around 3,800 of the poorest communities in Luzon and Visayas.

The amount is less than half the grant allocated by the US government’s Millennium Challenge Corp. (MCC) for projects aimed at reducing poverty in the Philippines.

Maria Victoria E. Añonuevo, chief executive and managing director of Millennium Challenge Account-Philippines (MCA-P), told reporters last week that the agency would disburse the entire P5.57-billion grant to the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-Cidss) by next year.

According to the state-run MCA-P, Kalahi-Cidss is a community-driven development project under the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) where local government units (LGUs) are “trained to choose, design and implement subprojects that will address their most pressing need.”

As of end-August, 160 municipalities in 24 provinces have benefited from Kalahi-Cidss, Añonuevo said. The beneficiary communities are located in the Bicol Region, the Cordillera Administrative Region, Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan, as well as parts of Central, Eastern and Western Visayas.

Since the project was launched three years ago, 2,672 subprojects have been completed, including 249 school buildings, 198 water systems, 117 daycare centers, 99 health stations, and 45 flood and river control systems.

Also, 361 farm-to-market roads, 185 access trails or footpaths and 46 foot bridges have been built using the US grant.

According to Añonuevo, Kalahi-Cidss targets to lift five million Filipinos out of poverty while generating an economic rate of return equivalent to 13 percent of the grant, or about P724 million worth of economic activity.

All subprojects had been vetted and approved by the National Economic and Development Authority.

Kalahi-Cidss is one of the projects being funded under the $434-million five-year “Philippine Compact” grant extended by MCC as agreed upon by Manila and Washington in September 2010.