ILOILO CITY — Village security officers (barangay tanods) in the province of Iloilo who will be hospitalized or killed in line of duty are entitled to financial aid.
The Sangguniang Panlalawigan on Tuesday afternoon approved Provincial Ordinance No. 2017-156, which will provide financial assistance to barangay tanods and/or their beneficiaries in case of hospitalization for injuries or death while performing their duty and establishing a trust fund for the purpose.
The ordinance was sponsored by 1st District Board Member Renee Valencia, chairman of the committee on justice, good governance and human rights, and co-sponsored by Pablito G. Gemarino, president of the Liga ng mga Barangay.
In an interview on Wednesday, Valencia said the ordinance would provide PHP500 per day to village security officers who would be hospitalized for more than three days. The recipient could avail of a maximum of PHP10,000.
Aside from this, the family of a deceased barangay tanod would also receive PHP10,000 in burial assistance, Valencia added.
The ordinance stemmed from the death of Romeo Cabalong, 53, on June 20 last year during an encounter between members of the Philippine Army’s 61st Infantry Battalion and the New People’s Army in Barangay Lampaya, Leon, Iloilo.
Valencia said the committee on public order and security, together with the committee on barangay affairs, chaired by 3rd District Board Member Manny Gallar and Gemarino, respectively, and the provincial social welfare office will draft the implementing rules and regulations for the ordinance within 30 days.
Meanwhile, Valencia said she will lobby for the inclusion of the PHP1.5-million fund needed for the implementation of the ordinance in the first quarter supplemental budget.
“If we already have the fund and the guidelines, we could already provide the assistance,” she said.
There are 25,000 to 30,000 barangay security officers in the province’s 1,740 barangays. (Cindy Ferrer/PNA)
