PHILIPPINE Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian underscored the importance of community-driven development in delivering timely and impactful projects to far-flung and vulnerable areas.
Gatchalian said this approach empowers residents and ensures that government resources reach those who need them most.
He said the program’s strength lies in its bottom-up structure, where communities themselves identify the projects that match their needs.
“Let’s talk about the benefits, the impact, and the transparency. It empowers communities because they choose the projects that fit their needs,” he said.
He explained that unlike traditional top-down programs, the initiative allows ideas and proposals to originate directly from the communities.
“This comes from the people themselves. These are their ideas, funded according to what they need, not something imposed by the national government,” he added.
According to Gatchalian, the development platform is vital for geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas, mountains, islands, and sitios far from city centers where many communities would otherwise remain unnoticed.
He said the projects, though small at no more than P5 million each, are “highly impactful because people use them every day.”
The projects typically include water systems, community lighting, post-harvest facilities, daycare centers, and bridges.
The government also maintains an “open menu,” allowing communities to propose what they need, except for items on a negative list such as vehicles or land purchases, which do not benefit the wider population.
Gatchalian emphasized that the program is transparent, with procurement handled by the community itself.
“We train them, they choose, they procure, they build, and they maintain the projects. That’s why the process is efficient,” he said, noting that the system uses a community procurement mechanism.
He added that the cost of community-led construction can be compared to traditional government methods, often showing that the modality is more efficient.
“It is an innovative way of spreading government resources to the poorest, farthest, and smallest communities,” he said.
The secretary said the program’s rollout in Cebu was timely, as the region recently became the epicenter of natural disasters, including an earthquake that affected parts of the Visayas and Mindanao.
He stressed that rural development initiatives should be launched in the countryside, where the projects are most urgently needed.
Gatchalian noted that their target municipalities have long been pre-identified because of their high disaster risk and vulnerability to climate-related hazards.
“When communities are so prone to disasters, poverty incidence rises again. Setbacks bring people back to hardship,” he said.
He acknowledged that the biggest challenge remains limited resources, explaining that even P56 billion spread over three years across 500 municipalities is still modest.
However, he said the success of the program is not measured by its size but by whether the projects truly match community needs.
The program requires LGUs to provide a 20 percent counterpart, lowered from the previous 30 percent, which can be given in non-cash forms such as labor, use of office space, or technical expertise. Gatchalian urged the public not to underestimate local governments.
“They can do it. We’ve seen 20 years of partnership. It’s not all about cash, LGUs have capacities we help tap, like municipal engineers,” he said.
He added that sustainability is strong, with monitoring showing that about 98 percent of completed projects remain standing because LGUs help operate and maintain them.
“When local governments contribute, they take care of the project. They have a stake in it,” Gatchalian said.
Gatchalian also said the program does not view areas by region alone. Instead, project allocation is determined by poverty incidence, disaster vulnerability, susceptibility to climate change, and the presence of Indigenous Peoples.
For example, 42 LGUs in Central Visayas were identified based on these measurements.
He said the DSWD is open to exploring different modalities, including using the community-driven model to help expand classroom infrastructure nationwide.
While he does not dictate what communities should build, he noted that the mechanism can support various needs whether water systems, classrooms, or food security initiatives.
“Community mobilization happens on the ground, and local government units cannot be excluded,” Gatchalian added, stressing that people’s organizations rely heavily on LGUs for counterpart support.
He reiterated that the bottom-up approach is essential. “We cannot impose on communities what they should build. If they say they need a water system, we cannot force them to build classrooms instead,” he said.
Gatchalian emphasized that the initiative represents a more inclusive way of delivering government assistance.
“This is an innovative way of spreading resources. Instead of concentrating them in highly urbanized areas, we bring help to the poorest, the farthest, and the most remote LGUs,” he said. (ABC)