Preparatory Steps Initiated Toward CLIFF Expansion in Bacolod City

BACOLOD CITY- "Hitting four birds in one stone", Sonia Cadonigara, regional coordinator for Western Visayas and over-all program coordinator of the Homeless People's Federation Philippines Inc.(HPFPI), happily said while riding on a cab going back to San Isidro, Jaro, Iloilo City. Wednesday; May 5, 2010, Cardonigara went to Bacolod City to set up the HPFPI office in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental which is part of Philippine Alliance's initiative of replicating the Community-led Infrastructure Finance Facility (CLIFF) in other cities in the country. 

A room worth five thousand pesos (P5000.00) per month within the Farmers Marketing Center (FMC) building in Circumferential Road, Alijis, Bacolod City is to be rented to serve as HPFPI Bacolod City Office. The rental fee covers electricity, water supply and the lodging cost. Specifically, it is located at the ground floor of the FMC building adjacent to the FMC's field personnel office. Moreover, internet connection is very accessible because the whole building is a "wifi-zone". As a head start, the office was checked to identify the office supplies and equipments needed for the initial set-up.


A meeting with the Kapisan Homeowners Association (HOA) represented by Benedicto Quilla, HOA President and Marissa Parel of barangay Vista Alegre, Bacolod City was also held during the same day to verify the forthcoming city-wide survey in Bacolod which is expected to commence after the May 10 election. 

As focal persons, Kapisan HOA representatives, Benedicto Quilla and Marissa Parel were assigned to confirm to the trained community surveyors that the city-wide survey will surely start after the election.


On the other hand, as a way of giving value to the role of the city government in every activity of the HPFPI, Cadonigara also had a meeting with the Bacolod Housing Authority (BHA) department head, Josephine Segundino. Segundino reassured her assistance, especially in formulating strategies for the upcoming survey. Furthermore, recognizing the mutual gains that can result from a partnership with the Academe, Cadonigara also tapped the College of Engineering (COE) and the Research Development and Extension Office (RDEO) of the West Negros University in the person of Dean Dioscoro Maranon Jr. and Victoria Demonteverde for the technical assistance and logistics support through student volunteers. They came up with a decision of drafting a memorandum of agreement between HPFPI Iloilo and West Negros University to be signed tentatively on June 2010.

     Setting up the office and tapping of prospective partners were part of the preparatory activities toward the expansion and continuity of the Community-led Infrastructure Finance Facility (CLIFF) which started in Iloilo. Despite the risks of project expansion and replication, CLIFF will certainly make another difference in the lives of the urban poor communities in Bacolod City.

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