Two months after the completion of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) KALAHI-CIDSS’ cash-for-work (CFW) scheme in Barangay Mahayahay, Kitcharao town, Agusan del Norte province, residents maintained the cleanliness of their village through the conduct of monthly Bayanihan-Pahina (cleaning) activity recently.

Barangay Mahayahay residents conducted the regular Pahina activity to maintain the cleanliness in their vicinity in an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other diseases.

The CFW, which is a subproject of the DSWD’s KALAHI-CIDSS PAMANA Indigenous People-Community-Driven Development (IP-CDD) in Barangay Mahayahay, was completed on March 17, 2021.

The said subproject costs Php1,017,820, most of which was paid to the beneficiaries/workers in the said barangay. It benefited 612 households, who were paid by the program on a daily basis for work rendered for 4 or 5 days.

Work includes clearing barangay roads, declogging of canals, and eliminating garbage in the surroundings.

Moreover, residents also dug compost pits and built garbage bins for proper waste disposal. They also installed signage or placards to remind residents to dispose of their trash properly.

Keen on keeping the tidiness of their village, residents committed to participate in the said cleaning activity every last Friday of the month.

What is CFW?

Cash-for-work (CFW) is a short-term intervention to provide temporary employment to distressed individuals who are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Residents are temporarily employed to clean and sanitize public places and offices, communal livestock and/or vegetable/fruit gardening/farming, repacking of goods, clearing of vital roads, among others.

In exchange for the work rendered, program recipients are provided with cash to meet their requirements for food and other basic necessities.

CFW is one of the subprojects eligible for funding under Disaster Response Operation Procedure (DROP), which allows the KALAHI-CIDSS-covered areas to shift its operations from regular developmental activities into a disaster response modality to immediately address issues related to early recovery.

KALAHI-CIDSS or Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services is one of the poverty alleviation programs of the government being implemented by DSWD.

Fruits of labor

Barangay Mahayahay Community Sub-Project Management Committee chairperson Junjun A. Jok, 35, a Mamanwa tribe member, said that the CFW had really helped them in making both ends meet during the pandemic and at the same time clean their barangay.

“Dako kaayo katabang ang cash-for-work para sa among panginahanglanon. Sa amo pud palibot, nahinlo. Dili lang sa gisakupan namo nga mga Lumad o mga tribu, apil pud ang mga Bisaya (Cash-for work had really helped us on our needs. Not just the Lumads’ surroundings were cleaned, but including those areas occupied by the Bisaya),” Jok said.

“Dako kaayo epekto sa amo ang pandemya. Pang-uma na lang gyud amo pangita kay wala man lain, bawal man mo dayo . Daghan kaayong salamat sa DSWD kay tanan among panginahanglanon nasulbad (The pandemic has huge effect on us. We only relied on farming for a living as we were not allowed to travel to work. Thank you so much DSWD for meeting all our needs),” he added.

Jessa B. Galban, a 26-year-old Mamanwa woman, also expressed her gratitude to the CFW of KALAHI-CIDSS.

“Dako ang tabang ang cash-for-work sa amo kay panahon sa pandemic kay nag-lisud mi. Nagpasalamat ko sa KALAHI kay dghan akong nakat-unan ug daghan pud project gi-ahatag sa amo. (The cash-for-work was a big help for us as we have struggled so much during the pandemic. I’m grateful to KALAHI for I have learned a lot as well as for the many projects given to us),” she said.

“Gipalit namo bugas, sud-an, ug unsa among kinahanglanon (We bought rice, grocery, and other essential items),” Galban said when asked how she spent the hard-earned money she got from the KALAHI-CIDSS’ CFW.

Challenge ahead

Mahayahay barangay chief Mario Magsanay challenged residents to continue their monthly Bayanihan-Pahina activity.

“Dili ta maluya kung ang uban dili maka-participate tungod kay kaugalingon nato ning pagtabang sa atong komunidad (We should not get discouraged when others won’t be able to participate in the activity since this is our contribution to the community),” Magsanay told members of his community.

“Ang atong goberno adunay kahinangawa nga mo-angat gyud ang atong komunidad sama sa kalimpyo, kalinaw. Kining pagpanghinlo kada adlaw ni. Dili kay manghinlo ta kung dunay activity. Mao ma nay sakit sa Pilipino, kung naay bisita, abtik dayun manghinlo (The government really has a goal to raise the standard of living of everyone including the community in terms of cleanliness and peace. Cleaning is a daily chore. We should be cleaning our surroundings even if there is no activity and not just if there are visitors in our barangay),” he said.

“Ang KALAHI nakatabang gyud kanato. Simple ra nga trabaho nato, sweldohan ta. Ato gyud ning padayunon. Atong ipakita sa taga-KALAHI nga ang project wala na kawang. Ato ning ipadayon kada buwan. Mao na akong challenge sa inyo mga kaigsuonan: manghinlo gyud ta (KALAHI has really helped us. We were given cash in exchange for simple work. We should continue this activity every month. Let us show to the KALAHI staff that the [cash-for-work] project didn’t go to waste. Thus, this is my challenge to you: we should clean our village regularly),” the village leader told residents of Barangay Mahayahay.