Hola!
It's me again, Anamarie Antolin, up for another entry. For the previous blog entry, I introduced to you the small San Jose del Monte Heights community located in Brgy.Muzon City of San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, along with the community issues presented by some of its citizens. With the survey conducted, we came up with the findings that there are several problems within the community raised by the residents; however, it is the problem of water shortage or water access that seems to be the most prominent one.
For this time, we will try to look for another view— a view from an elected official, who is considered as the head of the community.
Will she address the same concerns raised by members of the community?
According to Law Insider dictionary's definition, local officials means:
Local official [n]
any person who holds a local office as defined in s. 5.02 (9) or has been elected to a local office but has not yet taken office, and every person who is employed by a county, city, town, village or school district who is not employed principally to influence legislative or administrative action. A person who is appointed to fill a vacant local office is a local offi- cial.
Local official [n]
an officeholder of a political subdivision of this state.
Local official [n]
each officer or employee of a local government who by law or vote of the governing body of the local government is made the custodian of funds.
Words can have various meanings. Some are not meant to be defined in just one way. Its definition might be written in different forms and structures, but it will arrive with one meaning. The same goes with the term "local officials." Regardless of how its meaning will be expressed, it still arrived in a same meaning of: it is a person elected by its governing body or constituents to govern a specific community.
I attempted to interview other officials since last week, but due to their hectic schedules because of the ongoing local campaign and SK's ongoing community event, they were unable to participate in the survey. Hence, I interviewed the HOA President of San Jose del Monte Heights for this entry. She was elected five years ago by the community members and continues to be so today.
Table 1: The Profile of the respondent
Table 1 displays the profile information of the survey's sole respondent, who is also considered to hold the highest position in the community. Other columns were added to determine the number of years she's been in San Jose del Monte Heights and the number of years she's serving as the HOA President. As per the data provided, she has been a resident of the community for eight years. Thus, still considered as one of the oldest residents since the community's age is just 11 years old. She's been in the position for five years now, having started in 2017.According to her, the community has been unable to hold elections for a new set of officials since last year due to the pandemic.
Moreover, this shows the community issues that the HOA President mentioned during the interview:
According to her, there are still issues with late-night karaoke, although there is a set limit of 10:00 p.m. She also mentioned some residents' lack of water access within Expansions 1 and 2 areas and water schedules and shortages across the community.
"Sa tubig, halos wala namang problema dahil nga lahat naman sila ay may metro except the expansion 1 and 2, pero on-going na. Siguro ang nararanasan nating problema sa ngayon, minsan nawawala nang mas maaga yung tubig, babalik ng medyo matagal, so siguro mayroong conflict o ginagawa kaya nakakaranas ang ating constituents na paudlot-udlot na tubig sa kanilang mga gripo. "
I also consulted about other complaints she had received, to which she replied,
"Ang aking nahahandle na problema ay yung mga [problema] mag-asawa pero ang gusto nila ay sustento sa anak. Meron naman tayong mga kabataan na kapag nai-involve sa away-bata ang mga sumasali ay mga magulang. So ayon iyong mga [naha-]handle ko na [mga] problema pero mayroon pa ring general blotter na pwede namang magreklamo kapag away ng kapitbahay, tsismis ng kapitbahay, pinapakilaman ang buhay nang may buhay, o may mga utang. Usually ayan iyong mga ini-re-report dito. Riot, away ng mga teenagers ganon. Bihira lang siguro yung mga nakaw [kasi] usually mga ganon lang ang mga case rito. "
Complaints about robbery and other crimes did not appear to be prevalent but only about misunderstandings between community members.
Furthermore, I asked her about what she thought should be prioritized among the community issues she mentioned, she said:
" Siguro lahat naman sila dapat na bigyang pansin . Pero siguro kasi hindi naman natin mako-kontrol kung ano iyong [mga] problemang darating sa araw na ito e. Pero lahat sana kung kayang mabigyan ng pansin, at kinakaya naman ng ating barangay at ng city, napapag-ayos naman iyan. "
Indeed, community issues are something one cannot avoid of. It is an inevitable situation that a community may face. Thus, the presence of local officials plays a vital role in addressing those.
In the long run, what does it take to be a local official? Does it only speak for power and authority?
There are responsibilities, challenges, and critiques that all officials must be prepared to face. An HOA president's and a local official's responsibility is to help the community understand the issues and needs of their community members—a person who will lead for the greater good.
The HOA President of the San Jose del Monte Heights community addresses the issues she encounters and hears from her constituents in this entry.
The findings for this survey has been out.
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