Focused Reforms
Malalag, Davao del Sur

In 1997, when the municipality of Malalag in Davao del Sur started the Social Reform Agenda-Minimum Basic Needs (SRA-MBN) program for its 15 barangays1, it conducted a municipal-wide survey that revealed the following grim realities.
Of the 5,478 families surveyed

• 548 (10%) had children 0-5 years old suffering from malnutrition
• 328 (6%) had lactating and pregnant mothers deficient in iron and iodine
• 505 (9%) had children 0-1 year old not fully immunized
• 2,052 (37%) had income below the poverty threshold of P3,500 per month
• 1,379 (25%) had no access to potable water and no sanitary toilets
• 2,656 (48%) did not have proper drainage
• 4,656 (85%) did not have proper waste disposal
• 3,441 (63%) did not have homelots of their own
• 826 (15%) did not have houses of their own, while 669 (12%) lived in dilapidated houses
• 894 heads of family, 1,816 spouses, and 1,148 individuals 18 years old and above (or 14% of total population) were unemployed
• 1,436 (26%) had children 3-5 years unable to attend pre-school
• 1,054 (19%) had children 6-12 years old not attending elementary school, while the same number had children 13-16 years old not attending high school
• 19% of school age children do not attend high school
  

The situation was compounded by inadequate delivery of basic services, poor health and sanitation, lack of people’s organizations and of people’s participation in governance, and lack of awareness and education on gender issues.
As the local government set out to formally implement its development

program in 1998, it identified the following priority objectives:

• Reduce poverty incidence by 50%
• Raise the income level of 1,720 families to PhP4,000 or at subsistence level
• Provide resettlement sites for 8 barangays
• Immunize at least 80% of children 0-11 months old
• Provide potable water to 90% of total households
• Enable 75% of families to participate in local governance
• Generate savings from the community of not less than PhP1 million
• Attain at least 80% level of participation in mortuary assistance
• Attain tax obligation compliance of at least 70% of families
• Promote and sustain health and sanitation of households and community
• Keep crime rate at minimum level of 4-6 cases per month
• Empower the women, youth, labor, indigenous peoples, and other sectors

To achieve the goals, it was important to be specific. The MBN indicators were used to determine the priorities, facilitate program management, and focus resources to priority development needs.

Addressing the MBNs

For better convergence and complementation of service delivery, the LGU created and strengthened the Integrated Resource Management Team, composed of the various offices engaged in service delivery.

The program identified the families who, at the survey, were below the subsistence threshold so that the resources and interventions may be focused towards them. Family profiles and categories were kept and regularly updated through semi-annual family surveys.

The interventions included social preparation that involved awareness and capacity building, focused on enabling the beneficiaries to engage in self-help activities like livelihood, savings mobilization, and mortuary assistance.

Structural mechanisms, such as the barangay development council and barangay people’s organizing committee were created to engage in community organizing, participatory research, and community mobilization for project implementation and monitoring and for effective service delivery.

Funds for training and for field implementation of projects were accessed from national government agencies, NGOs, and even foreign donors.

The program adopted a policy of generating equity from the community for every project undertaken in order to reinforce the values of stakeholders, develop their self-reliance, and create among them a sense of ownership of the projects and programs. Each family was encouraged to save at least PhP5.00 per month.

Gender issues and concerns, mobilization of women to participate in planning, capacity building, and implementing and monitoring of projects were integrated in the program.

Using the survey of needs, periodic evaluation was conducted to determine whether or not the needs were being met. Focused group discussions from the barangay down to the purok (sub-village) levels were also conducted twice a year to assess accomplishments, changes in behavior and quality of life, and shifts in empirical data.

Major accomplishments

Based on analysis of MBN indicators from 1998 to 2005, the combined reduction in number of families who lived below the poverty line and in unsanitary conditions (survival category), who neither had home lots nor decent housing (security category), and who did not have access to basic services (enabling category) had reached 82%.

At least 1,443 families were able to increase their food threshold from below PhP3,500 to at least PhP4,000 per month, representing a 70% reduction in the number of families living below subsistence level. This was done by providing livelihood to women and better farming technologies to the men. The validation of this result is carried out through focused group discussions that are conducted twice a year.

The number of unemployed heads of family had been reduced by 99%, from 894 to 10; the number of unemployed spouses was reduced by 98%, from 1,816 to 37; and the number of unemployed individuals 18 years old and above was reduced by 55%, from 1,148 to 514.

Eleven barangays had acquired resettlement sites totaling 15.6 hectares, targeted for resettlement of 830 families. At least 3.18 hectares had already been awarded to 212 families, who each received 150 square meters of homelots.

In addition, the municipal government had developed a 2.3-hectare resettlement site for socialized housing, where 124 low-cost housing units would be built in joint venture with Habitat Philippines. To date, 79 units had been awarded to qualified recipients.

Maternal and child care remarkably improved. Immunization of children 0-11 months old reached an average number of 814 per year, or an accomplishment rate of 96%. Of 464 mothers not fully immunized in 1998, only 3 were left in 2002, a reduction of more than 99%. Malnutrition was reduced from 453 cases to 30 cases, or by 93%. Stillbirths and births of malnourished babies were reduced to zero from 296 cases in 1998. All 15 barangays had adopted the blood banking program, which had a total donation of 650,000 cc in 2002. At least 500 families had been covered by the government’s health insurance program.

Supply of potable water improved with 15 waterworks systems built in nine barangays in 2002, benefiting 4,099. This represented an accomplishment of 75%, or 15% short of the 90% target. However, the construction of a multimillion-peso waterworks system was completed in October 2004. It will supply potable water to 100% of households in six urban barangays, which would accomplish the target. To date, another 600 households had been connected to the new waterworks system.

With water available, some households were encouraged to raise vegetables in backyard, allowing them to save PhP10-PhP20 per day, or PhP300-PhP600 per month, on vegetable expenses.

The concept of community savings encouraged households to save from PhP5.00 to PhP10.00 per month. As of end 2005, the community had accumulated savings of PhP1.864 million from 5,258 families through the 15 community savings associations. The fund was made available to members in the form of providential and livelihood loans, with interest rates determined by the community itself.

In addition, participation rate in mortuary aid was 84%, or 4% above target, with 4,601 families now members of mortuary aid associations in the 15 barangays. In 2002, total mortuary assistance amounted to almost PhP1.38 million, sparing families from loan sharks in times of bereavement.

The successful experience in community savings encouraged other programs, such as the Upland Development Program, to help at least four barangays put up Financial Service Centers, which at present operate like grassroots banks and provide production loans to members. Thus, more farmers are motivated to adopt better farming systems that require more capital but yield bigger income.

With more households getting more income, the municipal tax base broadened. Families complying with their tax obligations reached 72%, or 2% above target.
Sanitary conditions improved. The number of families without sanitary toilets (3,619), proper waste disposal systems (2,256), and proper drainage systems (4,656) had been reduced by 83%, 95%, and 94%, respectively.

Crime rate had been reduced to 2-4 cases per month in 2002, an accomplishment rate of at least 150%. Victims of crime against property went down from 140 to 16 families and victims of crime against persons from 85 to 20 families during a period of six months that year.

The keeping and updating of family profiles per purok helped the barangay officials keep track of who were actual residents and who were transients. It became easier to monitor the activities of transients, and thus helped prevent the commission of illegal acts.

Women and youth organizations were formed in 15 barangays. At the municipal level, the Municipal Women’s Development Council and the Municipal Youth Development Council were established. Both sectors now participate actively in local governance. The labor and indigenous people’s sectors, though already organized at the municipal level, still need appropriate interventions.

Through the program, women had become more visible in community activities as they were more effective in community-based research, such as the conduct of semi-annual survey of families, and in maintaining day care centers. More women were encouraged to engage in gainful self-employment or in income-generating projects. A considerable number of women were also elected in the barangay councils or as purok leaders and as managers of community savings and financial service centers.

In addition, 80% of families were able to participate in local government affairs, as indicated by the same rate of attendance in purok meetings and assemblies.

From a sleepy to a busy town

Once a sleepy third-class municipality with only very few basic services delivered to residents, Malalag is now a busy area for commerce. Social and physical infrastructures that attract investors are in place, including quality health services and a telephone system. It has a zoning ordinance that ensures appropriate use of space and resources. It has a program to protect the environment, especially marine resources, for the economic benefit of residents. It has a local revenue code that ensures efficient generation of municipal income. To date, 72% of total households comply with their tax obligations, which speak a lot about how the people accept and support the municipal government’s development interventions.

The key to the success of the municipality’s trailblazing efforts toward progress is the MBN approach to poverty alleviation. Regular surveys are conducted to determine the MBN of residents. Aside from the 33 social indicators under the MBN approach, the LGU had added 16 more indicators to measure the impact of the program on people’s behavior and attitude.

More than the improvements in economic and social conditions, the empowerment of people for participation in local governance is of strategic value. Sectors are organized and empowered, and organized groups are tapped to help in pursuing development. The participation of various stakeholders ensures the institutionalization and sustainability of development interventions.