MCC conducts economic impact of KALAHI-CIDSS Project in Iloilo
A three-man team from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) recently conducted an evaluation on the economic impact of KALAHI-CIDSS (Kapit Bisig Laban sa Kahiraparan- Comprehensive Integrated Delivery of Social Services) Project in two Iloilo towns.
The team headed by Jack Molyneaux, MCC’s Director for Impact Evaluation, Jeff Brown, MCC’s Associate Director for Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) and Economics and Dr. Aniceto Orbeta Jr., MCC consultant based in the Philippines went to the towns of Ajuy and Janiuay last week.
Orbeta is connected with the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS). The group was accompanied by Engr. Abe Cea, Deputy National Project Management Office Infrastructure Engineer of KALAHI-CIDSS.
Ajuy is 91.9 kilometers north of Iloilo while Janiuay is 29 kilometers west of Iloilo. KALAHI has implemented seawall project in Mangorocoro, two-class room building in Malayuan, all in Ajuy. In Janiuay, they visited the health station in Tambal and road upgrading with spot concreting in Carigangan.
The group had a courtesy call to DSWD Assistant Regional Director Joel P. Galicia, Ajuy Mayor Juan Alvarez and Janiuay Municipal Administrator Jose Macaya before going to the project sites Thursday and Friday last week.
The recent visit is significant in firming up the details regarding the Project’s expansion dubbed as KALAHI-CIDSS-Operations for Barangay and Municipal Assistance (KC-OBAMA) in 2015. KC-OBAMA will cover a total of 193 municipalities with 4,400 barangays in the 28 provinces of Luzon and Visayas.
Molyneaux said conducting onsite visit and direct interview with the locals is “a good opportunity for them to learn more of the project.” The US government has given the MCC a mandate to evaluate on how KALAHI funded projects is able to reduce poverty in remote areas of the country by increasing the economic gains of the people. “It is more of how people become better off.”
He stressed before the villagers that MCC does not give out grants but the US government. The US government will provide grant to developing countries through the MCC should they agree in one project design on how to spend the grant and what projects should be funded under such grant.
“If we have money, we are more interested in how the Philippine government will spend it in its poverty reduction program. “Like the American government, we want to get closer to the people.’
Quoting media interviews of DSWD Secretary Celia Capadocia-Yangco, Molyneaux is optimistic that final agreements would be firmed up between the two governments in two months time. The decision in providing grants should be made between the two governments.
The KALAHI-CIDSS process was referred by the Philippine government to become a model of the grant which the US government wants to give to developing countries. The evaluation team is trying to measure on how the KALAHI improves the welfare and poverty level incidence not only in Iloilo but entire country. The MCC is more particular on the economic impact of the projects on the lives and income of the people. The Project’s social capital building potential also interests the team.
In their visit, the team focused their inquiries on the project selection, funding source and benefits the project has brought to the villagers after its completion. They also asked on the farm inputs used by farmers, source of water for their irrigation system as well as market for their produce using the roads funded under the KALAHI-CIDSS.
On his part, Orbeta was impressed with the statistics on the decrease of poverty incidence in KALAHI served areas. “It is interesting on how KALAHI was implemented in these areas.” Understanding the process employed by KALAHI led to their curiosity.
In the 2009 statistical reports released by the National Statistical Coordinating Board (NSCB) in Iloilo dropped from 31.1 percent in 2003 to 24.1 in 2006.
The results and recommendations of the team are vital in drafting the agreements between the Philippine and US governments on the release of MCC grants. (DSWD/ MMC)
