By Perla Lena and Ma. Leonora E. Estanque/PNA
ILOILO CITY — Interior Undersecretary Martin Diño will push for the passage of the Magna Carta for Barangays, term extension for barangay officials, and additional benefits for members of the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK).
“It is important to pursue this Magna Carta for Barangays since it includes all the benefits, especially for the barangay captains,” Diño said in his message delivered by his staff Helica Joyce Macalinao at the 2019 Barangay Summit on Good Governance held at the Rose Memorial Auditorium of the Central Philippine University in this city on Tuesday and attended by 1,850 village officials from Iloilo.
Under the Magna Carta for Barangays, the barangay captain, barangay kagawad, SK chairman, barangay secretary, and barangay treasurer will be declared regular government employees.
“You will all be entitled to fixed salaries, allowances, insurances, medical and dental coverage, retirement benefits,” he said in his speech. Once approved, the barangay captains will have a salary equivalent to those of the Sangguniang Bayan members of his municipality.
This Magna Carta for Barangays was first proposed by then senator Aquilino Pimental Jr. during the 14th Congress but it did not prosper.
“It seems that the barangay has been neglected for the past years. Usec Diño hopes that the congressmen and senators will now be able to notice this proposed bill,” Macalinao said.
Currently, barangay officials have only two years in every term. The proposal is to extend it to three years or more.
Moreover, Diño said that they also intend to provide salary to SK councilors, secretary and treasurer. These officials are held accountable but are not compensated, he said.
“There was an SK reform last election but the salary of the SK Kagawad, SK secretary and SK treasurer was forgotten,” he said in his speech.
Meanwhile, the one-day summit also served as a venue to remind barangay officials of their role in the pursuit of good governance.
“When you assumed office last year, we were very excited and (you were) zealous in performance of your duties and responsibilities, especially in helping the President attain his vision of having a corrupt-free, criminality-free and drug-free community,” said Ariel Iglesia, director of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) 6 (Western Visayas).
He stated that barangay captains are the frontliners of the government and they serve as development managers, program implementers, and service providers.
The summit aimed to strengthen the government’s campaign against illegal drugs, corruption, criminality and violent extremism to achieve a peaceful environment, Iglesia said.
To encourage barangay officials to perform, he announced that they are going to implement the Barangay Seal of Good Local Governance this year to recognize barangays with exemplary performance in local governance.
“Do not forget transparency. The full-disclosure policy will be one of our bases in giving the seal,” he added.
The summit was the fifth leg of the region-wide summit. A similar activity was also held in the provinces of Aklan, Antique, Capiz and Guimaras. DILG will bring the summit to Negros Occidental on January 24.
