REGIONAL KALAHI CONVERGENCE GROUPS

RKCG OVERVIEW

WHAT DOES RKCG MEAN?

Poverty causes suffering among millions of Filipino people throughout the country and the developing countries nowadays. Many rural and depressed areas do not have the sufficiency of the basic needs like food, shelter and clothing. Undeniably, poverty brings despair, anger or lack of interest in anything except one’s own worries. Financial, emotional and medical problems strain family ties. On the national scale, the poverty line in the Philippines increased over the past eight years based on the economic research studies and statistics. With the earnest desire of the government in combating the extreme economical scarcity, the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) developed an alliance and convergence that will boost up the poverty reduction programs both on government sectors and non-government agencies.

The Regional Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan Convergence Group or commonly known as “RKCG” is the linking arm of the NAPC and the local government units (LGUs) which are the primary institutions to address poverty. The RKCGs were established in all regions nationwide through Memorandum Circular No. 33, entitled, ’Institutionalizing the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan as the Government’s Program for Poverty Reduction. MC 33 which was promulgated on 28 November 2002 mandated that the the RKCGs shall be created under the umbrella of the Regional Development Council (RDC).

The RDC CALABARZON adopted the RKCG as one of its special committees dedicated to tackle concerns about poverty alleviation. The RKCG reports regularly to the RDC Full Council as well as to the NAPC.

GOALS/OBJECTIVES

The principal objective of RKCG project is to create a system for economic sustainability that generally aims to (1) reduce extreme poverty, (2) equal distribution of economic opportunities, and (3) empowerment of the poor and ensure the delivery of social services.

The program initiative’s goal was to help developing provinces and their respective cities and barangays design policies and programs that convene economic stabilization and structural amendment targets while alleviating poverty and reducing vulnerability.

ROLES AND STRUCTURE OF THE RKCG

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE RKCG

The RKCG plays a crucial role in the region primarily because it is the body that creates, plans, implements and monitors the sufficiency of a good and effective innovative poverty reductions and investment programs. Specifically, the responsibilities of the RKCG includes the following:

• Preparation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of regional poverty alleviation, plans and investment programs, including the formulation of policy recommendations thereof;
• Integration of poverty reduction plans of local government bodies (Provincial, city, municipal, barangay), regional line agencies, state universities and colleges, government owned and controlled corporations, and special development authorities in the region into a regional poverty reduction plan;
• Promotion and encouragement of the inflow and allocation of private investments in the region to support regional development objectives; policies and strategies supporting poverty initiatives in the region;
• Initiation and coordination of the development, funding and implementation of regional and special poverty development projects;
• Recognition and coordination with focal persons, teams, or committees of LGUs for the establishment of KALAHI group and its mobilization to facilitate RKCG resolutions;
• Maintain a strong link between anti-poverty and internal security efforts of the government; and
• Conduct a periodic review and assessment of RKCG’s programs, project and activities.

The RKCG project supports a national program for formalizing urban cities and rural areas legal and institutional improvements, training, and the development of long-term strategies. Its focus is not only on methods of promoting economic growth and structural change but also on improving the potential for the mass of the population into the different thematic area pillars like inclusive social development, Good governance, gender equality, environmental sustainability, private sector development, regional cooperation and capacity development. The RKCG strengthens the national accounts and poverty monitoring system to support the pro-poor sustainable economic growth.

ORGANIZATIONAL MEMBERS AND COMMITTEES

The RKCG adopts an open and inclusive membership. This means that aside from the members identified in MC 33, other government, private and civil society organizations may become members of the RKCG.

The following are members from the government sector:

            Local Government Units

• All five Provincial Governors of the CALABARZON Region
• The Local Poverty Reduction Officer of each province and highly urbanized city in the region
• The League cities, the League Municipalities and the Liga mg mga Barangay

National Government Agencies

• Department of Social Welfare and Development
• Department of Health
• Department of Education
• Department of Agriculture
• Department of Agrarian Reform
• Department if Environmental and Natural Resources
• Department of Justice
• Department of Interior and Local Government
• Department of National Defense
• Department of Public Works and Highways
• Department of Budget and Management
• Department of Science and Technology
• Department of Energy
• National Economic and Development Authority
• Technology and Livelihood Resource Center
• People’s Credit and Finance Corporation
• Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor
• National Food Authority
• National Irrigation Administration
• National Statistics Coordination Board
• National Statistics Office
• Philippine Charity Sweeptakes Office
• Philippine Information Agency
• Armed Forces of the Philippines
• Philippine National Police
• Population Commission
• Cooperative Development Authority
• Quedan Credit Corporation
• Office of the Presidential Advisor on the Peace Process.

NAPC Basic sectors

• Farmers and Rural landless workers
• Artisanal fisherfolk
• Urban poor
• Indigenous cultural communities/indigenous people
• Workers in the formal sector and migrant workers
• Women, youth and students
• Victims of disasters and calamities
• Senior citizens
• NGOs
• Children
• Cooperatives.     

(Note: See the Updated RKCG Directory)

The RKCG members are subdivided into five clusters or committees as follows:

1. Asset Reform - the opportunity to own land/lot through Agrarian reform, urban land and ancestral domain

2. Human Development and Services – Access enhancement of basic services such as education, health and sanitation, electrification, water and housing

3. Livelihood and Employment opportunities – Equal job opportunities and micro credit and assistance 

4. Social Protection and Security- Provide the vulnerable sector equal justice and treatment and protect them from all forms of discrimination and severe impact of man-made calamities.

5. Capacity Building- institutionalizing and strengthening participation in decision making and management process.

An RKCG Executive Committee composed of the chairpersons and co-chairpersons of the clusters, basic sector representatives, among others is convened from time to time to address issues/concerns that need immediate attention.

CURRENT PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS

The RKCG coordinates and monitors the implementation of the various anti-poverty programs of the various line agencies. These include the following:

PANTAWID SA PAMILYANG PILIPINO

Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino (PPP) program was piloted by Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to support the campaign on poverty alleviation. It adopts the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) Program approach used in Latin American and African countries wherein this program provides money to extreme poor househoLds to meet a certain human development goals. The PPP is focused on building human capital (health/nutrition and education) of the poorest families. The implementation of the program started last May 2007 with funding support of World Bank.

The beneficiaries are the poorest households who have pregnant women members and children 0-14 years old. They shall receive P500.00 as health and nutrition grant and P300.00 per child as education grant on a monthly basis. A maximum of 3 children in a household shall be covered by the education grant. All in all, a household with 3 children beneficiaries shall receive P1, 400.00 as monthly grant for a period of five years as long as they comply with the PPP Program conditions.  The monthly grant shall be conveyed via Hand Bank Cash Cards.   

Partner agencies like DOH, DepEd, DILG and NAPC provides technical assistance in the overall preparation and implementation of the program to ensure that program supplies and manpower on education, health and nutrition services are available in the municipalities and barangays.

For more information about the program, please contact the DSWD at telephone numbers (02) 807-4143/807-4140 (fax).

ACCELARATED HUNGER MITIGATION PROGRAM

In great response to the nationwide food inadequacy especially to the vulnerable levels, the government developed the “Accelerated Hunger-Mitigation Program” (AHMP) to cut hunger incidence and ensure food Security to all people.   The Hunger Mitigation Program initially had 2 major components, the (1) Food-for-School, and (2) Tindahan Natin. These covered the National Capital Region and 49 provinces classified as vulnerable to food insecurity and malnutrition. The AHMP measures the supply and demand sides by increasing food production, enhancing efficiency of logistics and food delivery, puttin­g money in poor people’s Pockets, promoting good nutrition and manage population. These are the areas that AHMP is currently implemented to the groups of provinces categorized by priority.  AHMP is a component of the pump-priming strategy of governmant to reduce poverty that seeks to generate investments, create jobs and provide basic services and assistance to the poor and indigent groups.

For more information, please contact the NNC at telephone numbers (02) 843-5850 or 843-5855.

COMMUNITY-BASED MONITORING SYSTEM (CBMS)

The Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) was developed by Micro Impacts of Macroeconomic Adjustment Policies (MIMAP) Project to provide policy makers with regular with a good information base for tracking the impacts of macroeconomic reforms particularly the vulnerable sectors and various policy shocks.

The CMBS has been adopted by the National Anti-Poverty Commission and the Department of Interior and Local Government as the local poverty monitoring system localizing the Millennium Development Goals. Efforts are underway with the help of Statistical Research and Training Center (SRTC) and National Economic Development Authority, CMBS Network Team, LGUs, and non-government organizations to scale up the implementation of the CBMS to establish a niche in the area of research excellence, policy relevance and overriding concern for poverty alleviation to all areas of Region IV-A (CALABARZON).

The CBMS program can establish a nationwide statistical system starting at the grassroots level that update information on the welfare status and needs at the community and household levels. The active involvement of civil society in monitoring relevant aspects of a program is an important ingredient to CBMS in terms of data collection, process and use of data. The assigned task of the barangay is to gather information on the minimum basic needs indicators and other information that the community seems necessary for its own planning requirements and prepare the annual development plans.  The information gathered from these indicators will serve as inputs to data banks at the barangay, municipal and provincial levels.

For more information, please contact NEDA at telephone numbers (02) 929-6044 or 927-7299.

FOOD-FOR SCHOOL

Food-for-School Program (FSP) is one of the major components of the Hunger Mitigation Program (HMP). The Food for School Program (FSP) being implemented by DepED, is an immediate intervention to address hunger among families through their children in Grades 1 to 6 and DepED-supervised pre-schools.  It is a form of food subsidy for young learners who belong to poor families.  It involves the provision of 1 kilo of iron-fortified rice daily for 120 days to families who suffer from severe hunger through preschool and elementary school children.

The Food for School Program is currently implemented to the priority group areas based of the results of the 2003 Family Income and Expenditure Survey conducted by the National Statistics Office classified as poor such as 1) Priority One provinces - are the top ten provinces ranked according to subsistence incidence plus the National Capital Region; 2) Priority Two provinces - are the top 20 provinces based on the 2003 poverty incidence excluding the provinces identified in the Priority One list; and 3) Priority Three provinces - are the other provinces (numbering 24) that are food insecure and with existing hunger-mitigation initiatives of various national government agencies.

For more information about the status of program implementation in region IV-A, please call: DepEd – (02) 6321841/634-1672 9fax); DSWD - (02) 807-4143/807-4140 (fax) and NFA – (043) 402-0428.

KALAYAAN BARANGAY PROGRAM

Kalayaan Barangays Program (KBP) was conceptualized to promote peace and development in the country. Specific program interventions include, core Infrastructure projects and services like improvements on transportation, communication, road and rail network, electrification and water supply facility as well as classroom buildings and educational establishments.  The KBP is spearheaded by Office of the Presidential Advice for Peace Progress (OPAPP) in collaboration and support of Department of National Defense, Armed Forces of the Philippines and RKCG.

The program already established ten school buildings in Batangas and two in Laguna. Six areas benefited from the water supply facility and the construction of farm-to-markets roads. Other Kalayaan Barangay projects will be implemented in Rizal and Quezon provinces.

For more details about the status of program implementation in region IV-A, please contact OPAPP at telephone numbers (02) 635-4053 or 636-0701.

CONFLICT SENSITIVE AND PEACE PROMOTING
LOCAL GOVERNANCE

The Office of the Presidential Advice for Peace Progress (OPAPP) launched the Conflict Sensitive and Peace Promoting Local Governance Program to assist the Local Government Units (LGUs) in the preparation of a comprehensive Local Development Peace Promoting Plans. There were 25 LGUs nationwide where the project is being pilot tested. For CALABARZON, the municipalities of Rosario and San Juan of Batangas; Liliw of Laguna; Agdangan and Gumaca of Quezon were included as pilot areas.

For more details about the status of program implementation in region IV-A, please contact OPAPP at telephone numbers (02) 635-4053 or 636-0701.