PCCED joins the CSO General Assembly in Barcelona
BARCELONA,Sorsogon – The Philippine Center for Civic Education and Democracy (PCCED) joined the Civil Society Organization (CSO) General Assembly held October 20, 2015 in Badeco Hall, Barcelona, Sorsogon. PCCED Project Leader Rizza Latigay and Staff April Gacosta were among the representatives from the Non-Government Organization (NGO) sector who attended the event. At least 28 members from the basic sectors were present. Representatives of the Local Government of Barcelona, Municipal Interior and Local Government Officer (MLGOO), Ma Linda Fornelosa and Mr Noel Lozada, Community Mobilizer of Regional Poverty Reduction Action Team (RPRAT) were also present.
During the activity, members of the Local Poverty Reduction Action Team (LPRAT) were elected and Gacosta was among the NGO representatives chosen. The CSO General Assembly was done in line with the National Government’s goal to reduce poverty and achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through institutionalizing the “bottom-up” approach in budget preparation process which started 2013.
Bottom –up Budgetting (BUB) is an approach used by the national government agencies in formulating their budget proposal taking into consideration the development needs of poor cities and municipalities through the Local Poverty Reduction Action Plan (LPRAP). The BUB is formulated through the LPRAT. As part of the basic process in BUB, CSO Assemblies are conducted to elect members for the LPRAT as well as to identify the needs of different stakeholders.
In line with this, Miss Latigay took the opportunity to share to the participants an overview of the same activity that PCCED is currently working on for them which aims to strengthen the marginalize sectors. This is part of the objective of the project, “Promoting Democratic Values in the Barangays of Barcelona” to motivate strong citizen’s participation in governance.
