Village volunteers run Benguet town’s affairs for a day

FOR A DAY. Mayor-for-a-day Gentry Tam-awen (seated center) is briefed on the newly deployed nurses to the rural areas while mayor Manny Fermin (seated, left) listens. Photo by Karlston Lapniten

KAPANGAN,Benguet –– Fourteen community volunteers on Monday managed this town’s affairs in the first-ever exchange program of its kind on in the country.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development Office-Cordillera through its Kahirapan–Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi CIDSS) launched the pilot program here.

The program allows selected volunteers to take on the roles of key local government officials for a day while the government executives serve as community volunteer workers.

Town Mayor Manny Fermin said he welcomed the program idea as it displays transparency and allows the public to experience managing the government.

Fermin was temporarily replaced by Gentry Tam-awen, 58, a protestant minister from Taba-ao village, while Vice Mayor May Eslay was substituted by retired teacher Eddy Garcia, 74, from Beleng-Belis village.

The other volunteer workers replaced the 10 department heads and two councilors.

After a brief orientation, no restrictions were given to the officers-for-a-day and were even allowed to co-sign documents processed for the day.

They were also compensated for the day’s work while their official counterparts cleaned a communal forest as part of the exchange program for free.

The town was chosen to pilot the program since it has been supportive of the Community-Driven Development Approach of the Kalahi CIDSS from 2014 until its end this year, said Imelda Tuguinay, Deputy Regional Program Manager of Kalahi CIDSS Cordillera.

Community volunteers implement and manage the infrastructure component of the grant of the Kalahi CIDSS, which has a local government counterpart. (Editor: Leti Boniol)