‘Incoming Secretary Benhur Abalos of the Department of Interior and Local Government will have his hands full in guiding the nation’s 42,000 barangays towards judicious spending of local funds.’
FROM the ancient sailboats called “balangays” that brought Bornean datus and their families from the south to establish the first settlements in Luzon, the barangay has metamorphosed to be the basic unit of government in the country.
It was former President Ferdinand E. Marcos who modernized the concept of “barrio” to become “barangay” in the heady days of the “New Society” and the idea caught on, became an intrinsic part of governance. The barangay today is not just the fundamental unit of government at the grassroots. It is also the everyday face of authority in the villages. Barangay leaders are first to feel the pulse of the people, know their problems and concerns, recognize their dreams and aspirations.
It is therefore expected that the incumbent President will continue the barangay tradition that his father had started; President Bongbong Marcos can even improve on it.
Incoming Executive Secretary Victor Rodriguez, himself a barangay kagawad before in Quezon City, said the new President intends to empower the country’s barangay officials by providing additional funds based on the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Mandanas-Garcia petition.
Rodriguez said village officials will undergo capacity-building training under the new administration to ensure optimal use of these additional funds.
The Mandanas-Garcia ruling states that the local governments’ internal revenue allotment (IRA) should come from 40 percent of all national taxes collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs. Under the old system, the IRA share of LGUs came only from the taxes collected by the BIR. The implementation of the SC ruling started this year, with the IRA renamed as the National Tax Allotment (NTA). With the Mandanas-Garcia ruling implementation this year, Rodriguez said it is projected that LGUs will have a 27.61 percent increase in the total IRA shares.
With the additional funds, the local government units have been mandated to operate social services such as those related to agriculture, connectivity and health within their jurisdictions.
Incoming Secretary Benhur Abalos of the Department of Interior and Local Government will have his hands full in guiding the nation’s 42,000 barangays towards judicious spending of local funds.
Abalos will also have to work to realize PBBM’s campaign promise to push for the implementation of provisions of the Local Government Code that give benefits to barangay officials that have not been fulfilled due to lack of funds.
