KALAHI CIDSS-NCDDP recognized community volunteers and partners last December 12, 2014 in Liloy, ZDN in recognition of their selfless and exceptional services rendered in the implementation of DSWD’s KALAHI CIDSS-NCDDP program. The BayanI Ka awards were given to Mayor Eldwin Alibutdan of Ipil, ZSP for the Improved Local Governance category, Barangay Chairperson Teresita Tale of Kumalarang, ZDS for Improved Local Governance (BLGU) category, and to seven more community volunteers— Josephine Realubit of Ipil, ZSP for Volunteerism category, Aurora Ornopia from Kumalarang for Gender and Development, Rebecca Alforque for Best Senior Citizen Volunteer, Rodolfo Bagsikan from Malangas, ZSP for Best PWD Volunteer and Loreza Dee Tomial of Kabasalan, ZSP for Best Youth Volunteer. Tomial and Mayor Alibutdan were also chosen to be BayanI Ka National Awardees.

The Search for BayanI Ka awardees is an initiative of the program implementers to acknowledge the hard work being put by the local, everyday heroes who put their own communities first before their own selves through volunteering in KALAHI CIDSS-NCDDP. Aside from this, they are also now considered as the new generation of champions who will become advocates in making community-driven development (CDD) a reality.

KALAHI CIDSS-NCDDP is the expansion into a national scale of operations of the community-driven development (CDD) approach, which was tried and proven effective by Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS). It targets the coverage of 847 of the poorest municipalities in the country. ###