Citizen Watchdog for Good Governance: A Research and Monitoring Project for DSWD Conditional Cash Transfer Program in Cagayan de Oro City
A. Background Information
Name of CSO: A Foundation for Growth, Organizational Upliftment of People, Inc. (GROUP)
Mission : GROUP promotes gender equity and total human development of women, youth, urban poor, fisherfolks, farmers and tribal groups through capability building, advocacy, micro finance and shelter programs.
Legal Status : SEC Registration No. 122511, September 10, 1984
:DSWD Registration and License To Operate No. DSWD-FO-RL-000018-2013, valid for June27, 2013 – July 26, 2016
Management: Michael Cagulada, Executive Director
Cristina Walag, Administrative/Finance Officer Luzviminda Banaynal, Cashier
Frenie Mae Fernandez, Project Officer on Shelter
Cristina Sonogan, Project Officer on Livelihood
Jonathan H. Castillo, Disaster Risk Reduction Resettlement Officer
Mae Ann Fullon, Community Development Officer
Volunteers : 20 trained Volunteer-Facilitators for DSWD - FDS of 4Ps
B. Experience with similar projects/interventions
GROUP foundation implemented a project from October 1, 2011 to March 31,2012 thru STRENGTHENING CIVIL SOCIETY ENGAGEMENT IN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT PROCESSES AND LOCAL MONITORING OF GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS: Functional Capacity Mapping of CSOs and Strengthening Procurement Observers and Contract Monitors, with support from ANSA-EAP.
C. References
Francisco “Bimbo” Fernandez
Undersecretary for Urban Poor, Informal Settler Families and Other Concerns
Department of Interior and local Government (DILG)
Email ad:
Benedict Balderama
National Coordinator
PHILSSA
Email ad:
Celfon # 09178301263
Glenn Bais
Mindanao Coordinator
PHILDHRRA
Email ad:
Celfon No.:09177081235
D. Details of proposed Project Manager and team members
This project will be implemented by a team GROUPs Volunteers and stakeholders involved which is responsible in conducting Research and Monitoring activities. The team will be composed of Project Coordinator, who will be the overall implementation head along with Researchers who will do the research works and the Documentor who will document the processes, and selected volunteer-facilitators engaged by GROUP in the conduct of Family Development Session to 4Ps. The team will be overseen by GROUP Executive Director and will be provided administrative support by the Admin/Finance Manager and Administrative Officer.
Project Background of CCT Program
Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) Program or known as Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or4Ps is one of the biggest social protection programs in the Philippines and implemented under the Department of Social and Welfare Development (DSWD). Its primary goal is to promote human capital development among poor families, especially children and also breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty.
The program aims to achieved with the four (4) objectives sets on the improvement of health condition of children age 0-14 years old; Improved maternal health of pregnant and lactating mothers; it also aim to raise the consumption of nutrient dense foods among the poor households,; increase enrolment/attendance of children in elementary / high school and encouragement of parents participation in monthly values formation session for family guidance in the growth and development of their children and involvement in the community.
E. Problems and Gaps
It is a declared policy of government’s commitment to good governance thru adherence to the principle of transparency, accountability, equity, efficiency and economy towards graft-free bureaucracy.
GROUP was engaged on the conduct of Family Development Session (FDS) with DSWD for a 10month period to 4Ps beneficiaries in 415 clusters in Cagayan de Oro City. The contract ended last February 2014. In this context, there were issues/problems observed by our FDS Volunteer-Facilitators like organizational and leadership concerns within clusters of member-beneficiaries (25-30 MBs) under stewardship of parent leader (PL) directly supervised by city links (CL) ; non-compliance of conditions set under the CCT Program on health, education, FDS; improper utilization on cash grants received by MBs; insecurities for those who were enrolled as MBs in 2007-2010 who will graduate in 5-years program, among others.
These issues confronting CCT as one of the flagship programs of the government on poverty alleviation is a concern for various stakeholders in the National Government and Local Government Units particularly for the private sector and the general public whose role are only at the sideline.
Thus, we have conceptualized this proposal based on the experiences encountered by our FDS Volunteers to bring the issues and problems and contribute possible changes thru multi-stakeholder partnership with the City Inter-Agency Committee (CIAC) created by the LGU to monitor the 4Ps program in Cagayan de Oro City, the Local Government Resource Center (LGRC) under the stewardship of DILG where knowledge products on local governments are available and shared by concerned agencies, the Citizens Watchdog on Good Governance (CWGG), a movement among citizens to monitor government’s program, the Cagayan de Oro Poverty Reduction Action Team (CPRAT) that would undertake the bottom-up-budgeting under the guidance of DILG to monitor the implementation of projects proposed by CSOs.
In this connection, this proposed project would study and evaluate the benefit gaps of the identified problems and issues confronting the 4Ps program.
Identified problems and issues:
1. Collusion of Parent Leaders and City Link Officers to cover up compliance of requirements like submission of minutes and attendance sheets during FDS;
2. Lacking visibility of City Links Officers contracted by DSWD to assist, supervise, monitor in the implementation of 4Ps in their field of assignment;
3. Recurrences of complaints among the beneficiaries on the uneven receipt of cash benefits in spite of complying with the conditions set by this program and some reported cases that somehow irregular beneficiaries are receiving full cash benefits
4. Unclear guidelines and policy in setting up coordination with the city link especially on the filling of retroacted claims of the beneficiaries
5. General perception/critique from the public that beneficiaries were not properly selected and validated by concerned government agencies because they observed that some 4Ps beneficiaries are well-off compared to other who deserved to be in the official roster of beneficiaries.
6. The absorptive capacity of DSWD in implementing CCT is greatly complemented by hiring contractual officers known as City/Municipal Links Officer who are usually assigned to about 800 4Ps beneficiaries for every city/municipal link officer.
7. Lack of support and provision of development programs from the local government bodies for the 4Ps beneficiaries. 4Ps reported that some cases that local government bodies are not giving importance to them since they are beneficiaries already under the DSWD.
F. Project areas
The project would cover Cagayan de Oro City through random selection of barangays, clusters and MBs classified into coastal areas, hinterlands, urbanizing, among others. There are 16,109 MBs (member-beneficiaries) in the city where 13,137 are active and 2,972 are newly registered under set 7 enrolled in 2013. However, the study would cover only MBs who are graduating from the 5-years program starting 2007 under set 1 to 2010 under set 4. This would total to 8,383 MBs spread out in 70 barangays (no enrolled 4Ps in 10 poblacion barangay) as informants and concerned service providers under the evaluation/action research. The NHTS would serve as baseline data in validating roster of beneficiaries at the ground. (seetable below)
SET / ACTIVESet 1 / 1,907
Set 2 / 11
Set 3 / 520
Set 4 / 5,945
Set 5 / 4,087
Set 6 / 667
Set 7 / 2,972 (newly registered)
TOTAL / 16,109
YEAR / AMOUNT RELEASED
2008 / P 2,248,100
2009 / 16,404,200
2010 / 24,366,900
2011 / 82,637,500
2012 / 109,886,500
2013 / 90,950,900
Distribution of Beneficiaries in 70 out of 80 Barangays
(No registered beneficiaries in 10 poblacion urban barangays)
Urban Poblacion (30 barangays) / 628 / 12
Agusan / 407 / 49
Baikingon / 87 / 29
Balubal / 202 / 34
Balulang / 461 / 184
Bayabas / 159 / 29
Bayanga / 217 / 9
Besigan / 118 / 31
Bonbon / 184 / 212
Bugo / 546 / 100
Bulua / 429 / 177
Camaman-an / 612 / 186
Canitoan / 644 / 55
Carmen / 1014 / 308
Consolacion / 263 / 96
Cugman / 115 / 159
Dansolihon / 350 / 3
FS Catanico / 136 / 0
Gusa / 376 / 59
Indahag / 286 / 4
Iponan / 225 / 76
Kauswagan / 275 / 115
Lapasan / 902 / 78
Lumbia / 606 / 19
Macabalan / 260 / 194
Macasandig / 338 / 67
Mambuaya / 141 / 7
Nazareth / 197 / 91
Pagalungan / 132 / 24
Pagatpat / 164 / 55
Patag / 175 / 56
Pigsag-an / 102 / 10
Puerto / 296 / 10
Puntod / 635 / 148
San Simon / 84 / 14
Tablon / 462 / 134
Taglimao / 114 / 11
Tagpangi / 149 / 10
Tignapoloan / 363 / 11
Tuburan / 91 / 21
Tumpagon / 192 / 7
TOTAL / 16,109 / 2,972
G. Strategies and Objectives
Citizen Watchdog for Good Governance (CWGG), is a multi-sectoral driven project that has two-pronged strategy: As an evaluation research strategy it will focus on seeking out external problems confronting the beneficiaries’ in compliance with CCT conditions and likewise to map out the program gaps especially on the problems cases reported by beneficiaries. On the other direction, the project will look at the level of assessment of the beneficiaries on impact of current service delivery on immediately relevant indicators of well-being (e.g., maternal and child mortality, effect on academic excellence of children’s in school in target areas), and how the services can be improved vis-a-vis other 4Ps interventions (like the FDS), encouragement of parents participation in monthly values formation session for family guidance in the growth and development of their children and involvement in the community like attendance on barangay assemblies, community pahina on clean up drive as this will be the framework of monitoring strategy. It will also look on the perspectives from non-member of the communities and other stakeholders on the CCT program impact in their community for better comparative analysis.
Partnership of the City Inter-Agency Committee
The City Inter-Agency Committee (CIAC) of Cagayan de Oro City as per Executive Order No. 005-14, will be the lead special body which will be the end user of these tools. This committee is created to support the implementation of Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program in the city particularly to ensure constant availability of the supply side requirements for health and education in program areas, provide technical assistance to communities and monitor the implementation of these programs at the barangay level. GROUP Inc. is one of the members of this committee comprising 11 members (5 are NGOs while 6 are heads of concerned government agencies). The City Social Welfare and Development Office is the Secretariat.
To cite some duties and responsibilities of the committee as provided in the Executive Order are the ff:
· Ensure that education and health services required by the 4Ps program are available to the beneficiaries in collaboration with the Dept. Of Health and the Department of Education during the program implementation period.
· Receive and endorse applications for consideration by the 4Ps Regional office on updates of beneficiary households, including child births, change address, change of responsible mother and other matters specified in the manual;
· Review progress reports on verification of commitments and supply of services and undertake appropriate actions to improve the program implementation.
· Help promote and disseminate the program to the different stakeholders and assist the beneficiary families in their complaints and requests.
· Organize & strengthen inter-agency network to ensure convergence of services and act as advisory group in the program implementation.
· Conduct regular monitoring and provide technical assistance to city links and mother leaders to ensure effective program implementation.
· Conduct monitoring and evaluation of the concerned Barangay compliance to project processes and guidelines, in coordination with the area coordinating team.
H. Objectives
1:To gain a better understanding of the 'benefits gap' as described in section E, and its causes, whether inefficiency of government agencies, poor governance or even corruption and to use this understanding to discuss policy or other changes with the government agencies concerned
2: To assess the poverty impact of the 4Ps program with a special focus on those leaving the program after five These findings would be addressed to CIAP whose members comprised representatives from inter-agency, viz Provincial/City Links on 4Ps, City Health Officer, Schools Division Superintendent, TESDA, ABC and selected NGOs.
3. To build the capacity of the monitoring teams through regular meetings and capacity building on social accountability.
I. Goals per component
1. Evaluation Research
- GROUP will enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), Resolution or Endorsements to ensure agency cooperation.
- The evaluation research will map out stakeholders involved in the Conditional Cash Program especially on the Health and Education component.
- GROUP will communicate the findings to the concerned government agencies and beneficiaries for critique and validation.
- This M&E tool can be utilized by LPRAT under DILG-10; LGRC based in DILG Regional Office and CIAC of LGU to monitor the extent of implementation of this program in their respective communities. GROUP Inc. is an NGO representative in the City Poverty Reduction Action Team (LPRAT)and one of the 3 CSOs signatory for proposed projects in 2015. Likewise, GROUP is also a member of the Local Government Resource Center (LGRC) where National and Local Governments are members including NGOs. LGRC serves as a venue for knowledge exchange and database of exemplary practices and knowledge products on local governance. The result of study would be a welcome product to this center.
- Validation of result with line agencies and stakeholders
2. Monitoring of impacts
- Convened public and private institution in participation of Project Monitoring
- Developed simple tools for assessment and monitoring framework
- It will formulate M&E Tools especially on health and education patterned after G-Watch Monitoring tools with modifications that can be easily applied and replicated in other LGUs for proper action by their respective Provincial/City/Municipal Advisory Committees.
- A customized stakeholder mapping tool for 4Ps and documentation/write up on its application and results; and