Republic of the Philippines
House of Representatives

Quezon City, Metro Manila

Twentieth Congress
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No. _1530

INTRODUCED BY HONORABLE AMADO CARLOS BOLILIA IV

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Community-Driven Development (CDD) institutionalization bill seeks to address
the lack of an enabling policy - a national strategy and its mechanisms for community
empowerment by enhancing capacities for community participation, especially the poor,
vulnerable, disadvantaged, and marginalized, in the local development process.

CDD refers to a development approach that gives control of decisions and resources to
community groups.’ It treats people as assets and partners in development process, building
on their institutions and resources.’ CDD reinforces the value of participatory governance by
complementing the Local Government Code, which mandates Local Government Units,
among others, to provide basic services to constituents. CDD projects operate at the lowest
layer or sub-national organization because it is working from bottom-up.’ It matches
resources to needs, enhances community participation and local governance, builds social
capital, and improves community skills and empowerment. With these elements, CDD can
play an important role in strategies to poverty reduction.

CDD approaches have been supported as tools for addressing poverty, improving
governance, and promoting inclusion. The Philippines has a long history of participatory
development, community empowerment, and community-driven initiatives, which was given
official support and recognition under the 1991 Local Government Code (LGC). DSWD
started to undertake CDD in 2003, building on its experience in community-based
participatory development from a previous DSWD local program under President Ramos"
Social Reform Agenda, the Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services
(CIDSS) and also drew inspiration from the Indonesian Kecamatan Development Program
(KDP).

“Aikie, Sabina, etal 2004. Community-Driven Development. COD Chapter ofthe PRSP Sourcebook



A. keystone poverty reduction initiative is the Kapit-bisig Laban sa
Kahirapan-Comprehensive Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS), a CDD program
implemented by the DSWD. After almost fifteen years of implementation, Kalahi-CIDSS
(KC) has made concrete positive contributions to the improvement of well-being of the
members of its target communities. It has demonstrated success in delivering basic social
services, empowerment and governance outcomes which could make significant contributions
in poverty alleviation, community empowerment and participatory local governance. KC had
financed more than 4,000 small infrastructure projects (including school classrooms, water
systems, farm-to-market roads, etc.) and trained community volunteers in more than 3,000
villages.*

Several studies have shown that CDD has indeed provided greater access to services.
Within one year after construction of projects, access to economic facilities has improved and
the rate of change is significantly higher in the Kalahi areas than in non-Kalahi areas as
compared to their baselines.’ Likewise, in Kalahi CIDSS areas, development funds (including
those from non-KC sources) are more closely aligned with residents’ preferences because of
the project. Residents get to participate in the selection of subprojects based on the
development needs of the barangay. These prioritized projects are then proposed for
Kalahi-CIDSS funding.*

Towards this end, the policy advocacy initiatives are:

© Institutionalization of the CDD approach as a national strategy for inclusive
growth and social protection; putting communities at the center of all
development plans, budgets and strategies by mandating all national government
agencies and departments, including their attached agencies, offices and
bureaus, local government units, and other government instrumentalities to
adopt the CDD approach in implementing their community-based programs,
activities, and projects to promote participation and empowerment of poor,
vulnerable, disadvantaged, and marginalized communities and groups within
communities;

 Institutionalization of the Kalahi-CIDSS as the national flagship CDD program
of the government for community empowerment that invests in providing
capacities and opportunities for community members, particularly the poor,
vulnerable and disadvantaged, to effectively participate in the planning,
budgeting, and implementation of community identified programs, plans, and
projects; and

Tracking Progress Towards Community Empowerment & Welfare:
‘Impact Evaluation of Kalah-CIDSS: Third Round Report, 2017.


‘© Creation of a CDD Knowledge and Resource Institute as the center for
continuing research and technology development, partnership development,
policy advocacy, resource mobilization, capacity-building of communities,
community-based organizations (CBOs), local government units (LGUs),
national government agencies (NGAS) and other development stakeholders, and
monitoring and evaluation, so as to ensure the effective institutionalization and
operationalization of the CDD framework as a strategy for inclusive growth and
social protection.

During the Eighteenth Congress, this bill was exhaustively discussed and eventually
approved by the Committee on Poverty Alleviation and was referred to the Committee on
Appropriations until session was adjourned sine die. In the 19th Congress, this bill was
passed on 2nd reading as Substitute Bill No. 11450. Due to lack of material time, it was not
passed into law.

In view of the foregoing, this representation is refiling this estly seeking the
legislation’s immediate enactment and approval.

AM. CARLOS BOLILIA IV
Representative
4th District of Batangas


Republic of the Philippines
House of Representatives

Quezon City, Metro Manila

Twentieth Congress
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No, _ 1539
INTRODUCED BY HONORABLE AMADO CARLOS BOLILIA IV

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:

SECTION 1. Short Title. — This Act shall be known as the
“Institutionalization of the Community-Driven Development (CDD) Approach
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 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 facilitate the establishment of adequate
consultation mechanisms. To 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:

(a) Basic sectors refer to the disadvantaged sectors of Philippine society
including farmer-peasants, fisherfolk, workers in the formal sector, 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;

(c) 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
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;

(b) 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 participants and provide opportunities for the
engagement especially of the marginalized groups;

(c) Community control 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;

(©) 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; and

(£) 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 approachin _ 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;

(c) 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;


(e) Ensuring that identified community priorities are sufficiently
funded;

(f) Ensuring participation of civil society organizations (CSOs) as
partners in organizing and strengthening communities, and implementing
community-based programs, activities, and projects, and

(g) | 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;

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

(c) Conducting third party monitoring and evaluation of capability
building and empowerment of LGUs and communities; and

(d) 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 practitionerscomposed of agencies,
Non-Government Organizations (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;

(c) 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);

(d) National Presidents of the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP),
League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP), and Liga ng mga Barangay
as members.

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 NGOs which shall constitute
not less than one-fourth (4) 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, NCIP, NCMF, NEDA, DBM, DA, DAR, DENR, DOH, DepEd,
DHSUD, LMP, LCP, Liga ng mga Barangay, 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;


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

(d) Implement 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

(f) 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. —

(a) DSWD as 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 shall,
through the Kapit-bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated
Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS) National Program Management
Office, integrate in their regular operations the following functions:

i) Ensure effective compliance and implementation of this Act;

ii) Facilitate support to empower community members to p: ipate in the
local development processes and to strengthen community capabilities to engage
LGUs, NGAs, and other stakeholders to support community-identified priorities;
and

Provide technical assistance and resource augmentation including but
not limited to ensuring integration of municipal development plans into
provincial development plans.

The DSWD, through its existing facility referred to as the DSWD Social
Welfare and Development Learning Institute/DSWD Academy and in
coordination with the DSWD KALAHI-CIDSS National Program Management
Office, shall:

i) Lead the research, development, and implementation of new and
improved CDD mechanisms to adapt to the ever-changing needs of
communities;


ii) Institutionalize capability building and learning on CDD for NGAs,
CSOs, private sector institutions, and other partners; and

iii) Establish the CDD resource pool, a group of experts on CDD
principles and implementation who possess expertise in CDD to co-develop the
certification and accreditation programs and other learning and development
requirements of the staff, partners, and other stakeholders. Further, the DSWD
shall also accredit CSOs to become partners in the use of CDD approach.

(b) DILG asa 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.

(c) NAPC asa 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.

(d) 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 concerned 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 shall, through the
Advisory Council, 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 with representation from the minority of both Houses, 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 necessary for the
initial implementation of this Act shall be charged against the current year’s
appropriations of the Departments and agencies concerned. Thereafter, such
amount 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,