Chosen Community: Barangay, Mabolo, City of Malolos Bulacan The empowerment of local governments in the Philippines is dependent on barangay governance. This is correlated to the leader's responsibility, justice, and openness in carrying out his responsibilities and obligations as a community servant. People believe that the local officials are capable of meeting all of their requirements. As a result, they are experiencing a lot of pressure to fulfill their commitments and tasks effectively. They are responsible for the safety of others, the maintenance of public order, and the protection of the environment.
The population of the barangay communities ranges from thirty to one hundred people. The barangays are still in use today and are the smallest subdivision of the local government. It serves as the primary implementing and planning unit of government projects, plans, programs, policies, and exercises in the community, and as a forum wherein the collective views of the people may be expressed, crystallized, and considered, and where disputes may be amicably settled (Local Government Code of the Philippines, 1991).
Barangay Mabolo in Malolos Bulacan is still dealing with issues related to population growth, social problems and environmental problems after more than a decade. That is why in today’s blog, we will try to look at another view- we will track the problem and concerns of our officials to address in the barangay which are known to be the primary unit of the government. Table 1. Demographic Profile
The table above shows the summary of information of the officials when I conducted the interview. One is our barangay captain and the other two are our barangay councilors. To extend and dig deeper into the answers of the respondents, a semi-structured interview was used. The questions were asked in a Filipino vernacular to get a more accurate perspective, comfortable setting and urge our brgy. officials to provide more detailed information. Our Baranggay Captain named Melencio Tamayo was interviewed in Barangay Hall while, Councilor Dedan Paguiligan (my grandfather) was interviewed in his house in Campsite St. Mabolo Malolos and Councilor Mark Anthony Dumalag were interviewed through chats. Table 2. Community issues the offcials want to address
Listed above are the community problems they chose to address. Based on the table, it is clear that both the citizens and the officials chose the same set of problems.
The most common issue that the officials wanted to address in Brgy. Mabolo was the environmental problem which is the improper waste segregation. Barangay Mabolo’s current solid waste management system is inefficient and produces a large amount of solid trash. Such tactics aren't tenable in the long run. The majority of households collect all of their solid garbage in one container and transport it to the sidewalk to be collected by the garbage collector. The majority of these solid wastes are not segregated.
“Ang naging problema po unang-una, wala pong disiplina ang ating mga residente sa pagtatapon ng basura. Ang garbage bin po ay nilagay sa apat na purok ang problema po nakita ko po na pingtatapunan po ng mga patay na hayop gaya ng pusa, aso, at kung ano pa man” Captain Melencio Tamayo explained.
“Wala tayong pansariling truck na panghakot sa mga basura natin. Doon tayo nagkakaroon ng problema dahil nai-stock ang basura natin kasi may schedule lang sila (hauler truck) ng pagkuha ng basura” Councilor Dedan Paguiligan added.
According to Councilor Mark Dumalog, the collection of trash in the community was everyday from Monday-Friday depending on the streets and village. Here is the schedule of the said collection:
He added that there had also been delays in the hauling of the contracted haulers of the city.
“May mga pagkakataon na hindi nasusunod ang collection unang una dahil sa dami ng basura at ikalawa ay ang schedule ng hauler” he said when asked if this assigned schduled is observed.
Barangay officials asked the residents to be patient as the new administration worked to find solutions to the smell and trash hauling issues. The next concern of the Brgy. officials was the road cracks in some areas this has been spotted along the streets in the barangay and it still remained unrepaired causing inconvenience to residents like building up of traffic in the area.
“Ang ating kakalsadahan, halos 50% ng ating kalsada ay gawa sa low standard na materyales at may kalumaan na kung kayat dapat itong mapalitan ng concrete type na na materyales upang tumibay at maging maayos ang ating mga daanan.” Dumalag said.
“Gusto kong mairesulba dito ang ating kakalsadahan. Gusto ko maiupagarde ko ang ating kalsada. Mula purok 1 hanggang purok 3” Fajardo stated. The next concern of our Barangay captain was the lack of CCTV camera in the community.
Criminal activities targeting individuals, particularly those who are alone, weak-looking, women, or anybody they believe they can gain something worth with, are also common in barangays. Even persons driving their automobiles have been mugged, robbed, and abducted in their own barangay on several occasions. As a result, all barangays must have at least a CCTV system in order to assist and resolve crime as quickly as possible. But the community seems to have a problem with getting CCTV. Tamayo is still requesting to have CCTV cameras installed in barangays for the safety of the inhabitants that live in the community. The barangay councils should gradually install more CCTVs as soon as possible for their respective villages, as they are already sufficient crime deterrents given the minimal resources available.
Last on the list refers to the officials' concern when it comes to improving healthcare assistance in the community.
“Yung may mga sakit dito na medyo may kulang sa kanilang panggastos. Ito yung dapat bigyan natin ng pansin lalong lalo na sa mga taong walang kakayahan lalong lalo na sa financial” Paguiligan said.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) advised all barangay officials to be more aggressive in enforcing basic health regulations in their respective communities, recognizing the essential role of barangays in avoiding the spread of the coronavirus illness 2019 (COVID-19). The problem of the community is medicines and equipment, especially for emergency situations are also lacking and insufficient such as nebulizers in the community.
What this basic observation informs us is that citizen-official connections in the local community can vary greatly based on the social links and views that already exist, which impact both groups of individuals.
Barangay governance plays a vital role in the community. They are the most devolved level of government in the Philippines, meaning they are the government closest to the people. However, after the interview, I observed that there appears to be a lack of communication in organizing, as well as a lack of unity among members and a lack of resources. In terms of personnel, there is a lack of initiative among the members and the citizens are uninterested in the barangay's activities. As a result, officials have difficulties seeking programs, taking action to solve problems.
There is really a lot of work to be done in the community. As a citizen, the responsibility for the quality of your country and community ultimately begins and ends with us while, the officials have the authority to recognise and implement a strategy to address these issues in the community is what makes a difference.
Photo Opportunity with the officials. It was indeed a great experience that I was given time to interview them despite their tight schedule. A discussion with the officials taught me that we will never know everything until we make an effort to explore and know about the happenings in our community and decide whether or not we want to be involved. Reference:
The Local Government Code of the Philippines. Retrieved from officialgazette.gov.ph/downloads/1991/10oct/19911010-RA-7160-CCA.pdf
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