In a convention of imperative mission for community development, Naga College Foundation, Inc. (NCF) hosted the 30th General Assembly of the Coalition for Bicol Development (CBD) held on August 6–7, 2026, at Casa Lourdes, NCF Main Campus—gathering non-government organizations (NGOs) comprising a total of 7 provincial- and city-based Civil Society Organizations (CSO).
This year’s CBD General Assembly shepherded the formation of its flagship program—the Regional CSO Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Hub—powered by allied networks from across the Bicol region, in which NCF lays the groundwork as a member institution through CAMSURNET.
CAMSURNET is the Camarines Sur-based member CSO of CBD, together with ALPRODEV, INC. (Albay), Bugkos Catandungan, Inc. (Catanduanes), Camarines Norte for Opportunity, Resources, and Enhancement for Development, Inc. (COREDEV, INC.), PANGUPOD (Sorsogon), MAGNET (Masbate), and its lone city-based coalition member, Naga City People’s Council (NCPC).
During the two-day convention, CBD discussed the opportunity to become a member of Start Network—an international coalition of non-profit aid agencies providing access to funding for global resilience, climate change adaptation, and green mobilization “working together to revolutionise the global humanitarian system.”
Making the nexus an integral occasion, CBD held the election of its Board of Trustees, where Ms. Marivic Vargas-Balance, the NCF Director for Student Affairs and Services, was elected as a member—representing NCF in CBD on its core remit.
NCF’s participation in this landmark coalition amplifies its concurrent paradigm in research, sustainability, and DRRM, further positioning the institution as the premier hub of fostering humanitarian action and community development in the Bicol peninsula.