Claro A. Lanipa
PAGADIAN CITY - The National Anti-Poverty
Commission (NAPC) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources
(DENR)-9 have launched on Tuesday the “Salubungan” (encounter) activities for the
province of Zamboanga del Suras convenor agency for the province of Zamboanga
del Sur at Chandler Suites this city.
“Salubungan” is a scheme under the Accelerated and
Sustainable Anti-Poverty Program (ASAP) initiative of the Human Development and
Poverty Reduction (HDPR) Cluster NEDA Board – Social Development Committee.
The initiative aimed to identify area programs and
convergent implementation arrangements that will speed up government spending
and help accelerate the attainment of the poverty targets of the Aquino
administration in its remaining term.
NAPC Undersecretary Patrocinio Jude Esquerra III said
there are 10 provinces in the country where Salubungan are now taking place.
“Salubungan is the encounter between the local government
units (LGUs), national government agencies (NGAs), entrepreneurs and the
grassroot groups that are aspiring to have better lives,” Esquerra said.
“We call this initiative as “four-in-one”, where the
support of the LGUs, NGAs, entrepreneurs and the people in the community are
being engaged. It is a reverse capital plight, the usual situation is that
people go to the cities, but in Salubungan we want a reversal of this,”
Esquerra emphasized.
He further explained that “the point of this initiative,
as they say, if development does not come to the mountain, let the mountain
come to do that or if the rural poor cannot make it to the city, then, it is
the city must, perhaps, come and knock at the doors.”
Meanwhile, Regional Director Arleigh Adorable of DENR-9
presented the consolidated programs and
projects of the NGAs for implementation in the three pilot municipalities
of Aurora, Mahayag and Kumalarang.
“A grand total of P5,007,036.754 was funded under the
regular budget for calendar year 2015 through ASAP to be implemented by the
different stakeholders,” Adorable said.
The programs and projects include rural accessibility,
product and enterprise development, technology transfer, organic agricultural promotion and
production, organizational strengthening, federation building, private sector
development, grassroots bankability, agri-forest development, social
development and disaster risk reduction.