NINETEENTH CONGRESS ) RECEIVED
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ) , :
First Regular Session ) DATE see

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Introduced by Representative Rufus B. Ro

no, 3008

EXPLANATORY NOTE

House

“Those who have less in life should have more in law." - President Ramon Magsaysay

Since 2003, the Community-Driven Development (CDD) approach has been implemented and
championed by the Kapit-bisig Laban sa Kahirapan - Comprehensive and integrated Delivery of Social
Services (KALAHI-CIDSS) Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)

The CDD approach is an internationally recognized empowerment strategy that relies on
community participation to achieve significant and lasting development. It treats citizens as partners in
the development process by allowing community members to identify and prioritize community issues
and problems. Further, CDD involves the community in the implementation, management, and
operation and maintenance of community-identified solutions to their prioritized problems. Through this
approach, communities are empowered to take part and claim ownership of the government's
‘community-based programs, projects, and activities (PPAS)

By institutionalizing the CDD approach, we can give the people more power to chart their own
paths, in line with the true intent and spirit of devolution. CDD institutionalization will provide an enabling
policy to achieve genuine community empowerment by enhancing capacities for community
patticipation especially in poor, vulnerable, disadvantaged, and marginalized communities.

CDD institutionaiization also provides a national strategy and mechanism to ensure inclusive
and sustainable growth by increasing community participation and improving government transparency
‘and accountability especially in the implementation of community-based PPAs.

In the context of devolution, CDD institutionalization reinforces the provisions of the Local
Government Code. Currently, community participation in local government is limited to representation
in local development councils and local special bodies. As @ consequence, people who are not
members of civil society organizations, the academe, or other people's organizations are not given
representation.

‘The CDD approach remedies this by offering ready and available technologies that, through
decades of implementation, have proven effective in stirring active and long-lasting citizen participation
that leads to local development

CDD's principles of participation, transparency, and accountability has a positive relationship
with poverty alleviation and inclusive and sustainable growth.

‘Through the CDD approach, KALAHI-CIDSS and the DSWD improved access to basic social
services in some of the poorest and most marginalized communities in the country. Through community
participation, high-quality infrastructures were established within or below planned costs. As an added
benefit, CDD also improved the capabilities of community members and volunteers as their involvement
required training on sound financial management and procurement.

By institutionalizing the CDD approach to ensure inclusive growth and social protection, the
government can build on and perpetuate the gains of CDD in local development and nation-building.

For all the foregoing, the passage of this bill is earnestly sought.

/ yr

RUFUS B. RODRIGUEZ


NINETEENTH CONGRESS )
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES )
First Regular Session )

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

House Bill No. 3008

AN ACT
INSTITUTIONALIZING THE COMMUNITY-DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT APPROACH AS A
NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR INCLUSIVE GROWTH AND SOCIAL PROTECTION AND
APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR*

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:

SEC. 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Community-Driven Development
(CDD) Approach Institutionalization Act.”

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policies. — It is the policy of the State to uplift the standard of living
and quality of life of the poor and provide them with sustained opportunities for growth and
development. The State also recognizes that the right of the people and their organizations
to effective and reasonable participation at all levels of social, political, and economic
decision-making shall not be abridged. The State shall, by law, facilitate the establishment of
adequate consultation mechanisms

Towards this end, and in pursuit of good governance, sustainable and inclusive
growth, and poverty reduction, the State shall enact programs that provide opportunities for
community members particularly the poor, vulnerable, and marginalized to effectively
participate in designing, planning, budgeting, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating
community programs, activities, and projects.

Further, the State shall provide capability building opportunities for local government
units, civil society organizations, and communities to ensure the proper use of the CDD
approach in implementing local programs, projects, and activities.

SEC. 3. Definition of Terms. — As used in this Act:

(@) Basic sectors refer to the disadvantaged sectors of Philippine society
including farmer-peasants, fisherfolk, workers in the formal sector including migrant workers,
workers in the informal sector, indigenous peoples and cultural communities, women, persons
with disability, senior citizens, victims of calamities and disasters, youth and students,
children, urban poor, and members of cooperatives;

(b) Community-based programs refer to programs, activities, or projects that
are designed, planned, organized and implemented locally by community members or groups
to address community-identified plans and needs;

() Community-driven development (CDD) refers to an approach that gives
control over the development process, decision-making, and resources to community
members or groups and treats people as assets and partners in the development process
while building on their institutions and resources; and

(d) Community empowerment refers to a process of enabling groups to increase
control over the factors and decisions that shape their lives, including their assets and
attributes, partners, networks, and voice.

SEC. 4, Elements of CDD. - The CDD approach, through the principles of participation,
transparency, and accountability, has the following elements:


(a) Community focus wherein programs or projects put primacy on a group of people
living in a particular locality or geographical area such as a barangay, ancestral domain, or
specific subsets thereof, where interventions are implemented;

() Participatory planning wherein the process directly involves the community
members, leaders, and other stakeholders in diagnosing local problems and designing a
course of action to resolve those problems, and aims to harmonize views among all of its
participants and provide opportunities for the engagement especially of the marginalized
groups;

(©) Community contro! of resources wherein the utilization and management of the
resources by the community members or groups are based on community-identified plans
and needs;

(d) Community-managed implementation wherein the execution, monitoring, and
contract management of community-identified projects are performed by community
members or groups, with assistance from the local government units (LGUs) and other local
partners; and

(e) Participatory monitoring and evaluation wherein the process through which
members at various levels of the community engage in monitoring and evaluating a program
or policy, share control over the content, the process and the results of the monitoring and
evaluation activity, and participate in identifying and making corrective actions.

(f) Operation and Maintenance, and Sustainability wherein the community participates
in the operation and maintenance of the community-identified project, ensuring sustainability
not only of the project itself but also of the elements and principles of the CDD approach

SEC. 5. Institutionalization of the CDD Approach. — National government agencies
(NGAs) and departments, including their attached agencies, offices, bureaus, other
government instrumentalities, and LGUs shall adopt the CDD approach in their community-
based programs to promote participation and empowerment of poor, vulnerable,
disadvantaged, and marginalized groups within communities.

SEC. 6. Operationalization of the CDD Approach. - NGAs and LGUs in community-based
programs shall be responsible for:
(a) Developing policies for enhancing participatory governance practices, tapping
community organizations particularly the basic sectors, and responding to community needs;
(b) Providing information on government intervention, technical assistance and
support to partner communities for more effective community-driven planning and
implementation;

ro) Enabling community members to meaningfully participate in the whole
process;
(d) Ensuring that community members are prioritized, to the extent possible, in

receiving employment opportunities brought about by project implementation at the
‘communities;

) Ensuring that identified community priorities are sufficiently funded;

) Ensuring participation of civil society organizations (CSOs) as partners in
organizing and strengthening communities, and implementing community-based PAPs; and

(h) Creating a Community-Driven Development team that shall ensure full
operationalization of the CDD approach within their respective agencies and LGUs.

SEC. 7. Role of Civil Society Organizations and the Academe. - Accredited CSOs and
academic institutions are encouraged to participate in community activities, specifically by


(a) Facilitating the community empowerment processes;

(6) Providing continuous capability building and technology transfer to LGUs and
communities;

© Conducting third party monitoring and evaluation of capability building and
empowerment of LGUs and communities; and

() Providing additional funding or collaborating with partners or donors to
implement capacity building and empowerment of LGUs and communities.

For purposes of this section, the CDD community of practice refers to a community of
CDD practitioners composed of agencies, NGOs, academic and research institutions, and
individuals, that share the commitment and passion for CDD, and together strive to advance
its practice through regular and purposive interaction

‘SEC. 8, Incentives. - The exemplary use of the CDD approach by NGAs and LGUs shall be
considered as a significant criterion for the recognition given to LGUs such as the Seal of
Good Local Governance by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and
other similar awards and recognitions granted by NGAs.

SEC. 9. Advisory Council. — An Advisory Council on CDD Institutionalization is created to
develop policies relative to the implementation of this Act.
The Advisory Council is composed of the following:

(a) Secretary of Social Welfare and Development, as chairperson;
(b) Secretary of the Interior and Local Government, as co-chairperson; and
(©) Representatives from the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC),

National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), National Commission on Muslim
Filipinos (NCMF), National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Department of
Budget and Management (DBM), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Agrarian
Reform (DAR), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of
Health (DOH), Department of Education (DepEd), and Department of Human Settlements
and Urban Development (DHSUD).

The representatives include the secretaries of the agencies as the officially designated
permanent members and designated undersecretaries as alternate representatives.

The Advisory Council shall have, as additional members, representatives of reputable
and accredited CDD non-government organizations (NGOs) which shall! constitute not less
than one-fourth (%) of the members of the Advisory Council, and shall be appointed by the
Advisory Council to serve for three (3) years from the date of their appointment. Thereafter,
the representatives shall be selected from and appointed by the CDD community of practice

Advisory councils at the regional levels are also established with the regional directors
of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and DILG, as chairperson
and co-chairperson, respectively, and representatives from the regional offices of NAPC,
NEDA, DBM, DA, DAR, DENR, DOH, DepEd, DHSUD, and from accredited NGOs, as
members.

SEC. 10. Functions of Advisory Council. ~ The Advisory Council shall have the following
functions:

(a) Meet regularly to promote coordination among agencies to enhance and
promote the use of the CDD approach;

(b) Formulate and issue relevant policies to ensure the effective and efficient
implementation of CDD and its principles;


() Formulate an incentives program to enhance and promote the use of the
CDD approach by NGAs and LGUs;

@) Formulate a grievance redress mechanism that accepts and resolves
complaints pertaining to the implementation of this Act;

e) Provide the monitoring and assessment report on the implementation of this
Act, post the same on the DSWD website, and submit an annual report to the Joint
Congressional Oversight Committee; and

0) Recommend to the President of the Philippines measures and policies for
the responsive delivery of commitments under this Act and integration into the general poverty
reduction strategy of the National Government.

SEC. 11. Implementing Agencies. -

(2) DSWDas lead agency. - As lead agency for the implementation of this Act,
the DSWD shall serve as the central coordinating, capability building, technical assistance,
and monitoring agency for this Act.

‘The DSWD, through a dedicated office, shall integrate in their regular operations the following
functions:
1) Ensure effective compliance and implementation of this Act;
2) Facilitate support to empower community members to participate in
the local development processes and to strengthen community capabilities to
‘engage LGUs, NGAs, and other stakeholders to support community-identified
priorities;
3) Institutionalize capability building and learning on CDD for NGAs,
CSOs, private sector institutions, and other partners;
4) Lead the research, development, and implementation of new and
improved CDD mechanisms to adapt to the ever-changing needs of

communities;
5) Accredit CSOs to become partners in the use of CDD approach; and
6) Provide technical assistance and resource augmentation including

but not limited to ensuring integration of municipal development plans into
provincial development plans.

(b) __DILG as a key partner in capability building. - The DILG shall support the
capability building of LGUs and communities. The DILG shall also ensure the horizontal and
vertical alignment and linkages of barangay and city or municipal development plans.

() NAPC as a key partner in mobilizing the basic sectors. - The NAPC
shall be a key partner agency in the development of policies and measures to ensure
meaningful representation and active participation of the basic sectors in their local
development

(a) ‘Support from relevant government agencies. ~ All relevant bureaus,
offices, agencies and instrumentalities of the government shall render the necessary support
to the implementation of this Act.

The various government agencies identified under this Act and the concemed LGUs
shall implement this Act using the whole-of-government approach, which provides a logical
and systematic convergence of efforts of NGAs and LGUs to respond to the identified
community needs, issues, concerns, and priorities

SEC. 12. Regular Monitoring and Reporting. - The DSWD, through the Advisory Council,
shall conduct quarterly monitoring of the implementation of this Act and submit an annual
report of its status to the Office of the President and to the Joint Congressional Oversight
Committee. The report must also be regularly posted on a dedicated DSWD Website and
updated for the public's information. A process assessment shall be conducted by DSWD


once every three years, the results of which shall be utilized to stimulate more program
lessons exchange, experience sharing, public dialogues, policy discussions and generating
inputs for program design works on CDD. Mechanisms for promoting third-party monitoring
and evaluation of this Act by NGOs and CSOs, together with community members and LGUs,
‘shall also be established.

SEC. 13. Joint Congressional Oversight Committee. — A Joint Congressional Oversight
Committee, hereafter referred to as the Oversight Committee, is hereby constituted. The
Oversight Committee shall set the overall framework to review the implementation of this Act.
It shall also determine the inherent weaknesses in the law and recommend the necessary
remedial legislation or executive measures

The Oversight Committee is composed of fourteen (14) members, with the
chairpersons of the Committee on Poverty Alleviation of the House of Representatives, and
the Committee on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development of the Senate as co-
chairpersons; and six (6) members from each House, to be designated by the Speaker of the
House of Representatives and the Senate President, respectively.

The review of the implementation of this Act must include a systematic evaluation of
its impact, accomplishments of the program, and performance of its implementing agencies.
The Oversight Committee shall conduct the review every three (3) years reckoned from the
effectivity of this Act, or whenever deemed necessary by a majority of the members of the
Oversight Committee.

SEC. 14. Appropriations. — The amount needed for the implementation of this Act shall be
charged to the current year's appropriations of the Department of Social Welfare and
Development. Thereafter, such amount as may be necessary for the continued
implementation of this Act shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.

SEC. 15. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - Within six (6) months from the effectivity
of this Act, the Secretary of Social Welfare and Development shall, in coordination with
national government agency members of the Human Development and Poverty Reduction
Cluster, with the participation of the league of barangays, cities, municipalities, and provinces,
and relevant stakeholders, promulgate the rules and regulations necessary for the effective
implementation of this Act.

SEC. 16. Separability Clause. - if any provision of this Act is declared invalid or
unconstitutional, the other provisions not affected thereby shall remain valid and subsisting.

SEC. 17. Repealing Clause. ~ All laws, decrees, executive orders, rules and regulations,
and other issuances or parts thereof inconsistent with or contrary to the provisions of this Act
are repealed, amended, or modified accordingly.

SEC. 18. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the
Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,