In pursuit of attaining the goals of the Philippine Development Plan which includes Inclusive Growth and Poverty Reduction, and Promoting Good Governance at the Local Level, the Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office II has introduced the Community Driven Development (CDD) Strategy to be used for the implementation of the Grassroots Participatory Budgeting enrolled projects in Region 02 on April 24 and 25, 2014.

Forty-nine Local Government Units (LGUs) participated in the orientation which aimed on imparting the importance of the CDD on the partner implementers so that they will have a clearer understanding of its principles and processes.

Assistant Regional Director Ponciana P. Condoy, who is also the Deputy Project Manager of GPB, emphasized the importance of the said orientation, which is among the crucial activity to commence the implementation.

Moreover, DSWD Regional Director Remia T. Tapispisan, who is also the GPB Project Director, stressed that the CDD strategy is an efficient and effective tool in empowering the community.

“Since the main objective of GPB is to empower the community, the people, I am recommending the CDD process and I am encouraging you to adopt it,” Director Tapispisan said to the participating LGUs.

Consequently, Honorable Joseph Tan, Mayor of Santiago City has expressed his support to the said endeavor. He said that through the CDD process, the objective of the Grassroots Participatory Budgeting will be achieved.

The orientation was successfully conducted thru the convergence effort of the GPB Technical Working Group members namely Ms. Lucia S. Alan, Head of the Protective Services Unit; Ms. Vicenta Pamittan, Convergence Regional Coordinator,; Ms. Joseline R. Ramos, Regional Accountant and Mr. Franco G. Lopez, as the Regional GPB Coordinator. By Franco G. Lopez, SWO II, Regional GPB Coordinator