DSWD rolls out climate-resilient community development program

The Department of Social Welfare and Development’s newly launched Panahon ng Pagkilos: Philippine Community Resilience Project (PCRP) is expected to deliver long-term development to remote and impoverished communities while strengthening transparency and accountability in local governance.

DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said Panahon ng Pagkilos — which succeeds the long-running Kapit Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan–Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS) — will allow communities to identify their priority needs and implement the projects themselves.

“Sa administrasyon ng ating Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., napaka-importante ng long-term solutions to poverty. And kung hindi natin ma-address itong mga micro subprojects, hindi natin madadala yung development sa countryside at sa mga liblib na pook,” Gatchalian said. He stressed that what may appear to be small-scale infrastructure can be life-changing for isolated communities. “What may look like a small hanging bridge to you can change lives. When children don't have to cross running rivers just to get to school, that changes lives, and that is development.”

Panahon ng Pagkilos is a community-driven development (CDD) program aimed at strengthening grassroots empowerment and building climate-resilient communities. Gatchalian emphasized that the initiative replaces top-down directives with bottom-up planning.

“One, empowering the communities. Kasi sila ang pumipili ng proyekto na angkop sa kanilang komunidad. It employs a bottom-top approach rather than a top-to-bottom approach,” he said. The program provides an open menu of allowable subprojects — excluding items in the negative list — giving residents the freedom to decide what their communities need most.

Another major objective, Gatchalian said, is to ensure development reaches poor municipalities and geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDAs). “Second, it brings in development. Malalayong lugar ito, liblib na mga puok ito. If we do not use this development platform, baka sila yung hindi napapansin kasi far from city centers.”

He also underscored the project’s built-in transparency mechanism. Procurement and project implementation will be led by community members rather than by national agencies. “It is transparent because again, the procurement is done by the community itself. It's not the national government. We capacitate them, they choose, they procure, they build, and then they operate and maintain,” Gatchalian said. “It employs a more efficient process of government spending.”

While the KALAHI-CIDSS model remains the foundation, Panahon ng Pagkilos introduces a critical new requirement — planning and construction with climate resiliency in mind. Subprojects such as water systems, footbridges, and community lighting will now be designed based on hazard exposure, climate risks, and local vulnerabilities.

“This time, their projects will take into account community resilience in the face of climate change and all these natural disasters,” Gatchalian said. “Gusto natin na nauunawaan nila paano magplano ng mga proyekto na angkop sa pagpapalit ng klima at itong mga natural disasters na hinaharap natin so that their communities become resilient.”

Panahon ng Pagkilos will target 500 municipalities across 49 provinces with high poverty incidence, severe exposure to environmental hazards, and large Indigenous Peoples (IP) populations.