Strength in community: Tackling COVID-19 recovery in the Philippines through community-driven development October 2020, COVID-19 response facility in Barobo, Surigao del Sur When COVID-19 hit the Philippines and the country began community quarantine in March 2020, the National Community Driven Development Project (NCDDP) was in its final phase of implementation. The project quickly triggered its Disaster Response Operations Modality (DROM) to support communities with COVID-19 response and early recovery. The DROM allowed the communities to reallocate $24 million for these purposes, supporting around 631,000 households across 2,158 barangays (communities) in 136 of the country’s poorest municipalities between May 2020 and the closing of the project in December 2020.