Mayors in NegOr renew commitment vs poverty

LOCAL chief executives in Negros Oriental gathered recently during a Mayor’s Forum to discuss the poverty alleviation efforts of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Central Visayas (DSWD-7) in their respective municipalities at the Bethel Guest House in Dumaguete City last Feb. 19.

The meet provided the mayors with an updated report on the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Integrated and Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS), one of the DSWD’s poverty alleviation programs in Negros Oriental.

DSWD-7 assistant regional director Nemia Antipala said for the first cycle of Kalahi-CIDSS in Negros Oriental, there are 56 sub-projects currently being constructed in the 11 municipalities.

The sub-projects include farm-to-market roads, water system, footbridges, school buildings, barangay health stations, drainage, river flood controls and a rain-water harvester.

Antipala reminded the mayors and their staff that in order to effectively combat poverty in Negros Oriental, there should be close coordination and collaboration between the local government units and the DSWD.

“Dili lang DSWD ang mo-fight sa poverty, pero kita tanan kauban labi na ang  mga tawo sa barangay (The fight against poverty should not be done by DSWD alone, but by all of us including the communities),” Antipala said.

Rep. George Arnaiz, who graced the activity, echoed the sentiment of Director Antipala and reminded the mayors of the nearing elections that they should put aside their political plans and focus on collaborating with each other especially with the communities to reduce poverty in the province.

“Whether we win or lose, we have to work together”, he said.