Thread by @sejoalzir

BARANGAY GOVERNMENT REFORMS

Now that we're talking about the Barangay Development Fund that eats up the entire budget of the NTF-ELCAC and is released to provincial and city governments, we should also raise the dying rural economy, the abandoned barangays and local development.

There should be a department for barangay affairs that will handle all barangay-related funds, programs, projects, plans, and policies. It doesn't make sense that the Barangay Development Fund is released to provincial and city governments, not to elected barangay governments.

Currently, elected barangay officials are election agents of mayors, governors, and representatives as though it is not their responsibility to develop their barangays. They are so used to barangay beautification, basketball tournaments, and other mundane tasks. Enough of that.

If you ask them why there are no developmental projects, they'll readily say "no funds". They have to curry favor with their political bosses to get token projects. Perhaps that's the reason why the rural economy or the peripheral barangays are almost dead. Reforms are needed.

First, the salaries of barangay officials should be increased relative to their municipal or city counterparts. They shouldn't be treated as lowly elected officials. After fixing their salaries, we can demand a lot of things from them. Perhaps that will also end their sycophancy.

After the establishment of the Department of Barangay Affairs, these should follow: barangay jury justice that will handle small-claim and misdemeanor cases and barangay law enforcers whose responsibilities are policing, protecting natural resources, dealing with insurgents, etc.

Why cops are confined in poblacions has always been a puzzle. Isn't that favorable to communist rebels in far barangays since they can freely collect revolutionary tax, terrorize people, and recruit the youth? It is time to recruit and train professional barangay law enforcers.

As the smallest administrative unit, a barangay government should have funds enough for meaningful public services that will cover its constituents. Its health, sanitary, welfare, development, and office workers should be fairly paid. The poor mainly reside in rural barangays.

Every barangay should have a nurse, a midwife, an agriculturist, a development worker, a garbage collector, a water inspector, and a welfare officer, aside from law enforcers, street cleaners, and barangay hall office workers. Employment can resuscitate a dying rural barangay.

If the government wants to reform the party-list system, it should be put under the Department of Barangay Affairs. A barangay election should elect officials sectorally and send sectoral representatives to municipal, city, and provinvial governments, the house, and the Senate.

I've already posted a thread about a barangay election as a party-list system. You can search Twitter by entering this in the search bar: "@sejoalzir party-list.

Enough with the government's abandonment of barangays if we want the country to progress nationally and homogenously.