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Monday, January 30, 2006
More cash for local projects
By Charmaine Y. Rodriguez
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
COMMUNITIES will soon have a direct hand in how development funds will be used. They can also take part in implementing needed projects.
The Kilos Asenso (KA) Movement, or the people’s movement for prosperity, will allow local government unit (LGU) chiefs to mobilize the business community, bankers, microfinance institutions, nongovernment and people’s groups, civil society, educators and other “development partners” to improve their own communities.
It aims to realize key items in President Arroyo’s 10-point agenda, specifically education, livelihood and peace, with counterpart funding from LGUs.
This means that apart from the 20 percent development fund from the Internal Revenue Allotment, which had a gross nationwide total of over P30 billion in 2005, more funds will be set aside for local projects.
Since KA has the endorsement of the President, a P5-billion allocation is included in the 2006 National Government budget for the program.
Of the amount, P1.3 billion will be initially released to provinces, cities, municipalities and barangays at 25 percent each.
The P3.6 billion will be released later “based on performance.”
Bohol Gov. Erico Aumentado, also president of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (Ulap), said LGUs are expected to put up a counterpart, amounting to P5 billion, for projects under the KA.
“We can also leverage the P10 billion to get additional funding from the Official Development Assistance (ODA), other global funding institutions and nongovernment units with similar projects,” he said.
Wish list
Examples of projects to be included in KA are farm-to-market roads, strengthening of small bridges across rivers, tree planting, improving potable water supply, seeding rivers and lakes with tilapia, and building day care centers.
Projects on the setting up or upgrading of community livelihood enterprises—using access to microfinance, organic composting for community use and the recycling or garbage into organic fertilizer—could also be proposed by LGUs.
However, these should be supported by contributions from community members, including those living overseas.
Aside from financial resources, contributions may be in the form of voluntary community work, land, special skills and others that will help in the completion of community prosperity-generating projects, said a program brief on the KA Movement furnished by the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).
Aumentado, also League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) national president, said projects can be implemented by barangays, cities, municipalities or provinces as long as they could put up counterpart funds.
However, Ulap, which aims to strengthen the capability of LGUs, has organized a meeting between selected governors and mayors and representatives of international funding institutions, like the ODA, World Bank, AusAID, Asian Development Bank, Japan Bank for International Cooperation, among others by the next month or early March.
Aumentado said one of the advocacies of Ulap is to directly link LGUs with these agencies so they could avail themselves of financial assistance “without sovereign guarantee from the National Government.”
The process will not only unburden the National Government of the responsibility of serving as guarantor for LGUs, but will also speed up the LGUs’ access to loans.
“We’re taking out one layer (in the bureaucracy). Normally, the gestation period for projects (proposed for funding by an international funding agency) takes three years. We hope to cut that down to one and a half or a year,” Aumentado said.
He added that KA is not a duplication of the work of local development councils but will support their work.
The objective of the KA, according to the program brief, is to “harness time, talent and treasure in the communities.”
Proposed projects under the program need to be endorsed by LGUs to development councils-from the barangay to the provincial level.
The KA will be set in motion by the Ulap, LPP, Neda, Department of Interior and Local Government and the Department of Budget and Management.
Aumentado said aside from the government agencies, representatives of the country’s chambers of commerce are also part of the KA Movement.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (January 30, 2006 issue)
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