Strife-torn municipalities in Caraga to benefit from peace project

From the Philippine News Agency (Dec 13): Strife-torn municipalities in Caraga to benefit from peace project

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Caraga continued to implement the peace and development projects to the six strife-torn municipalities and 76 barangays in the region, a senior regional social welfare official said. This was according to Ester V. Villamor, Regional Community Development Specialist of the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS). The project was funded by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace Process (OPAPP) under the Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (PAMANA) projects.

Villamor said DSWD would implement the “Pillar 2” of the PAMANA program, the “micro-level interventions to promote the convergent delivery of services and goods on households and communities by both national and local agencies,” she said. According to her the term of the project started on 2011 and may extend until 2015.

The peace and development project will cover the 6 municipalities of San Miguel and its 4 barangays; Tagbina and its 8 barangays and Gigaquit and its 3 barangays, all in the province of Surigao del Sur as well as the municipalities of Esperanza and its 28 barangays; Veruela and its 18 barangays and Lapaz and its 3 barangays, all in the province of Agusan del Sur. OPAPP identified the municipalities as conflict-affected areas (CAAs) and their respective barangays as Conflict-affected barangays (CABs) because of the sightings, influence or presence of the Maoist guerillas. Each area will receive a grant of P300,000 from PAMANA for their various peace and development projects, Villamor said.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=479708