“Kung mag bagyo, grabe gid ang amon kabalaka sa amon mga kabataan nga naga tabok pa sa gabok nga taytay para lang ka eskwela. Apang pag-abot sang Kalahi, nabuhinan na ang amon kulba kay bal-an namon nga mayo na ang ila alagyan.” (There was not a single moment that we would feel at ease, knowing how our children would need to cross an old bridge just to get to their school. It is thanks to Kalahi – CIDSS that we can finally go on with our daily lives knowing that our children are safe when crossing to the other side of the river.)

Catalina Dalipan, 42 years old, of Barangay Cadabdab, Tubungan, Iloilo relates how hard it was for their community to cross a wide river much more to reach the other side without any worry nor doubts whether the bridge might hold for longer. Their bridge back then was only made of bamboo poles that were tied together by cables to form a long walkway that connected them to the other side of the river. Hence, a really big challenge for the community.

“Tibay man ang kable pero kung gauklan, madanlog ang kawayan kag kinahanglan gid namon mag halong kag sa kadugayon ga daan man ang kawayan kag gakagabok man (The durability of the cable, we can trust, but not once with the bamboo poles especially when it rains. The poles get slippery so we would be careful every time. Bamboo poles also get old so it is very threatening),” says Catalina.

Catalina also has her hopeless perceptions while relating the shared experiences of their community crossing the old bamboo bridge. During bad weathers, they do not send their children off to school, afraid that the bamboo bridge might give off and the rushing water might claim the lives of their children. The same goes with their elders when they have to gide them to cross the bridge unharmed just to get to the municipality proper to get treatment and check-ups.

“Sa parte naman sang palangabuhian namon, mas mabudlay pa gid. Parehas sa amon kung mag bakal kami feeds sa banwa para sa amon mga alaga nga baboy. Magtabok sa taytay, kilanlan mo pa lukduhon sa ulo mo kag maghinay-hinay lang lakat kay basimakabulasot ka. Budlay gid ya tuod kung ang istoryahan pag transport sang amon mga produkto (It was a lot harder in terms of our livelihood. Take us for example whenever we needed to balance sacks of hog feeds on the top of our heads while taking the most patient time to cross the bridge, afraid to waste anything by just a small slip),” she adds.

The bamboo bridge was indeed a big disadvantage for the residents’ livelihood. While they deem the bamboo bridge threatening enough when it came to their safety, it posed a greater problem as well when transporting their products to the town proper.

Aside from other means, the residents of Barangay Cadabdab get their source of income mainly from harvesting crops which they grew themselves and would sell to the town market. Thinking first about how they would earn from it and even bring home simple things just to make their family happy makes it easier for them to cross the bridge with no worries.

This was somehow the life they were living – happy, peaceful and contented yet still living in the fear come the day when they need to grieve over wasted products or worse, over someone’s life – until Kalahi-CIDSS came to their aid.

“Nagapasalamat gid kami sang hugot sa amon tagipusuon kay nag-abot ang Kalahi-CIDSS sa amon lugar. Subong, wala na namon gina problema ang transportasyon sang amon mga produkto. Labi na gid sa tanan, wala na kami gakabalaka kung mag-tabok ang amon mga kabataan sa pihak nga pangpang,” Catalina gratifies. (We deeply thank Kalahi-CIDSS for bringing about their services to our Barangay. Now, we do not have to worry about transporting our goods to the other side of the river. Most importantly, we are always at ease knowing that our children can cross the bridge safely now.)

Kalahi-CIDSS (Kapit Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is one of the Philippine Government’s poverty alleviation programs which uses the Community-Driven Development (CDD) approach, a globally recognized strategy for achieving service delivery, poverty reduction, and good governance outcomes.

Kalahi-CIDSS was introduced to the municipality of Tubungan in 2016. The hanging footbridge project was the second project of Baranggay Cadabdab after a road concreting project. The bridge in Baranggay Cadabdab was the easiest way for the people on the other side to cross the river that disconnects them from the mainland. Aside from Cadabdab, two other neighboring Branggays, Bato and Victoria, including all the sitios comprising them, benefit from the hanging footbridge project.

After careful identification and assessment, the hanging footbridge was chosen as the top priority commodity. It was one of the needs of the community among others including a water system, a Day Care Center and more – all as identified by the community itself.

Honorable Vicente T. Gargaritano Jr., mayor of Tubungan expresses how Kalahi-CIDSS was an instrument to fill the gap between local authorities and the community, how it gave voice to the people for them to express their views as there was a certain difference between what the local officials see as a problem and what the community actually wants. Through Kalahi-CIDSS, there was a meeting and understanding of everyone’s views and perceptions.

“Kalahi-CIDSS has its way of empowering the people to identify the problem and finding the solution themselves, as they are the ones who will benefit from it, they are the ones who stay in their community. Politics change, but as long as people are empowered, the determination to improve their community lives on,” says Mayor Gargaritano.

The baranggay officials admitted that the processes, from planning to implementation was a hard task for them. Numerous meetings, to the identification of what’s to prioritize, and especially convincing other Barangays – all the arrangements, consumed a lot of time and effort. Often times they would get exhausted and burnt out but working together while not losing the grasp of everything they could gain through a convenient pathway kept their motivation.

“At first, it was hard. But once the people got used to the system, everything was easy especially because the community itself really wanted the project – both Barangay officials and the community were really into it – so the baggage wasn’t too heavy anymore,” adds Mayor Gargaritano.

Though implementing the project was challenging for them, it was not hard for the local officials to make the Kalahi project work in terms of community involvement since the value of unity is already deeply rooted to the tubunganons.

“People of Tubungan are hardworking people from the start. At the same time, they are also receptive to new opportunities which the think are beneficial to the community. We actually call our municipality Tubungan because of the spirit of tubung-tubung (cooperation) that pervades. In fact, it is our way of life. We certainly know that our municipality cannot develop well if we do not help each other,” says Mayor Gargaritano.

The spirit of unity innate to the tubunganons is undoubtedly present. Even so, they are grateful for Kalahi-CIDSS to come and enhance this value even more.

“Sa Kalahi lang namon na experience nga involved ang mga pamuluyo sa is aka buluhaton. Sang na intindihan na sang mga tawo nga para sa kaayuhan sang Barangay ang proyekto, nag ururugyon gid ang tanan. Daw kanami lang bala nga sap ag implementar ka proyekto, ga binuligay ang tanan (It is only in Kalahi that we experienced the community involvement for a project. When the people finally understood that it is for the common good, everyone participated. It is so nice to see how the people cooperated for the implementation of the project),” expressed Nanay Catalina.

Finally, in behalf of the residents of Barangay Cadabdab, Catalia relates her deep regard to Kalahi –CIDSS – “Kung sa akon lang, ang mga proyekto sa Barangay, gusto ko daw parehas sa Kalahi nga patakarankung diin ga volunteer ang bilog nga komunidad sap ag bulig nga matapos ang proyekto.” (If it were for me, I would want our barangay projects to be implemented just like Kalahi-CIDSS do, in which every member of the community is involved and have the urge to help for the realization of the projects.# xms/dswd/kalahi-cidss).