by Larry Lopez

TABUK, Kalinga – Pasil and Tanudan, which are both 5th class municipalities, are listed as pilot for President Benigno S. Aquino’s Convergence Framework in the province.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) which spearheads the new flagship program of government to reduce poverty combines the three major poverty alleviation programs on Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), Kapit Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan - Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS), and Self Employment Assistance para sa Kaunlaran (SEA-K) and have these implemented all at the same time in program areas.

Under the 4Ps or granting of conditional cash transfer, beneficiary-mothers receive P500 for pre-post natal care, while their children aging below 14 years old who are in-school get P300 cash allowance.


Government hands over infrastructure projects like day care centers, farm-to-market roads, irrigation facilities, and other community-based projects  to identified barangays covered under KALAHI-CIDSS.
For SEA-K, low-income families get livelihood assistance in the form of zero-interest soft loans payable in one year from the government as start-up capital for livelihood projects and income generating activities.
     
In Kalinga, Jeoffrey Garcia of DSWD Field Office said the Convergence Framework shall be launched in July in Pasil and Tanudan, before it gets adapted in the other municipalities.

The concept of convergence, Garcia explained, is the pooling of resources and expertise to put up a systematic channeling of efforts in pursuit of a commonly agreed goal aimed at addressing poverty.
There is a need to harmonize government’s poverty reduction efforts in both program and operation level to generate greater impact beyond what each program could accomplish on its own, Garcia elaborated.
Through convergence, use of government resources is maximized and at the same time, duplication of efforts is avoided.

When there is harmonized implementation, operational efficiency is enhanced that would assure maximum results from the programs, Garcia claimed.

The strategic focus of the framework is linking poverty flagship programs and empowering local government units, non-government organizations, services providers, and intermediaries.

KALAHI-CIDSS is implemented in 48 provinces, 78 provinces for SEA-K, and 79 provinces under 4Ps.
Under the convergence framework, there are 47 provinces identified as initial program areas: 16 come from Luzon, 12 from Visayas, and 18 in Mindanao;
 
In the Cordillera region, the provinces of Abra, Apayao, Kalinga, and Mt. Province are identified as pilots for the new framework. (PIA-CAR/Kalinga)