Arroyo seeks allies in villages, doles out more power, perks

By KAREN TIONGSON-MAYRINA, GMA News Research Barangay Batasan Hills in Quezon City is a favorite haunt of President Arroyo. She herself launched several of her antipoverty projects in the barangay, one of the poorest and most populous in the country with around 300,000 residents. In 2004 she personally launched her Patubig ni Gloria program for waterless barangays in the area. In 2005 her husband, First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, posed with taxi drivers in the barangay as he distributed free dentures. In 2006 the President opened the Barangay Food Terminal food depot in Batasan Hills, Last year she personally handed out PhilHealth insurance cards and eyeglasses to residents in the area while her Serbisyo Muna Caravan delivered medical and dental services and sold half-priced medicines. Very recently, on October 26, the President again visited Batasan Hills to award to beneficiaries contracts to sell parcels of land. So close is Arroyo to Batasan Hills that barangay captain Rannie Ludovica has a direct line to the President. “Inaalagaan niya (Arroyo) kami in terms of our needs," said Ludovica, who is seeking his second term in this year's barangay polls. It did not matter that Arroyo lost there during the 2004 presidential elections; 70 percent of the residents of Batasan Hills are urban poor drawn to the late actor and presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. Batasan Hills has a voting population of 55,400. Malacañang obviously knows that the barangay as the basic political unit plays a very important role in the whole scheme of things. After all, it serves as the primary planning and implementing unit of government policies and projects and is the closest organized local unit for the people. As the leaders most accessible to their constituents, barangay officials supposedly know the most urgent needs of the people. But more than that, it is a well-known fact that barangay officials wield tremendous influence on their constituents, the residents of the barangay. Perks from the President Since she assumed office in 2001, Arroyo has been very friendly to barangay officials. She has issued several executive orders granting more powers to barangay officials. EO 189 allows the release of the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) of local governments without the submission of an annual development plan; EO 190 stops the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) from deducting from the IRA the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and Philhealth contributions of local officials; and EO 250 abolishes the requirement for LGUs to set aside funds for anti-drug abuse programs. The President also ordered the full release of the IRA of local governments, and the payment of the arrears incurred by past administrations in IRA. Arroyo made life easier for them by delegating to the DILG secretary her power to issue travel authority and to act on requests for service vehicles. In 2002, Arroyo issued Executive Order 115 creating the Barangay Officials Death Benefits Fund for barangay officials who died during their term of office. In the 2008 national budget, the Department of Budget and Management allotted P37 million for payment of death benefits of the punong barangay, seven barangay kagawads, Sangguniang Kabataan president as ex-officio barangay kagawad, secretary and treasurer who died during their incumbency. The family of a deceased punong barangay is entitled to P20,000 death benefits and another P2,000 for burial expenses while a barangay kagawad, secretary and treasurer and SK president are entitled to P10,000 death benefit and P2,000 burial expenses. In 2003, the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. issued guidelines on the coverage of barangay officials and personnel including volunteers under the National Health Insurance Program. In 2004, the Civil Service Commission and the Department of Budget and Management issued a joint circular granting leave benefits to barangay officials. The joint circular entitled the punong barangay, Sangguniang Barangay member or kagawad and SK chair, barangay secretary and treasurer to leave benefits equivalent to 30 days for every year of service in the barangay. A DILG circular issued in 2004 entitled barangay tanods to accidental death/ dismemberment benefit and burial expenses. Select barangays are also recipients of various government programs such as the Kalahi CIDSS antipoverty project and gender programs. Besides her appearance during almost every national convention of the group since she assumed the presidency, the Liga ng mga Barangay, the organization of almost 42,000 barangays nationwide, has been receiving funds from Malacañang. The COA audit on the Office of the President for 2006 even shows that the Liga borrowed P5 million from the national government in 2002. The Liga is one of the 10 organizations under the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines, whose members received envelopes containing cash during a meeting with Arroyo in Malacañang on October 11. The money in the envelopes, containing P20,000 to P500,000, were allegedly distributed to mayors and governors and was reportedly intended for the upcoming barangay elections. Congress, too In the House of Representatives, a total of 38 bills had been filed in favor of barangay officials—for additional allowances, benefits and incentives to the creation of new positions and even the expansion of their powers. At the Senate, there are at least 20 similar bills. In the 13th Congress, at least 31 bills were filed seeking the constitution of sitios into a barangay or the creation of a barangay. At present, there are 41,994 barangays nationwide. Some 492 barangays had been added since 1990. Twenty barangays were created in the 13th Congress from 2004 to 2007.

Number of barangays from 1990 to 2006 Source: DILG National Barangay Operations Office
Year	Total No. of Barangays
1990	41502
1991	41820
1992	41876
1993	41931
1994	41919
1995	41929
1996	41935
1997	41939
1998	41940
1999	41940
2000	41943
2001	41945
2002	41956
2003	41972
2004	41975
2005	41993
2006	41995

Apart from the bills on the grant of additional benefits, lawmakers in the 14th Congress have also filed bills seeking the creation of more barangays, barangay halls and health centers. The current number of barangays easily translates to 671,920 barangay and SK positions up for grabs this election. Comelec estimates the number of candidates nationwide could easily reach more than one million. In Batasan Hills, six candidates are vying for punong barangay. Highly contested it may seem, but the figure is actually much lower than the 17 candidates who ran for punong barangay in 2002. Clearly, many are lured to the position not for the salary alone. Under the Local Government Code of 1991, barangay officials are entitled to honoraria and allowances not less than P1,000 a month for the punong barangay and P600 a month for the Sangguniang Barangay members, barangay treasurer and barangay secretary. Ludovica said he receives P12,000 every month as honorarium. They are also entitled to Christmas bonus of at least P1,000 each, insurance coverage and free medical care. Their legitimate children attending state colleges or universities are exempted from paying tuition during their incumbency. Barangay officials are also entitled to appropriate civil service eligibility and have preference in appointments to any government position after their tenure of office. Barangay tanods are granted insurance or other benefits. But the allure of the barangay hall comes not from these benefits, which barangay officials themselves said are not enough. Three-in-one “Powerful ang barangay captain. May executive power ka, may legislative power ka, may judicial at police power pa," Ludovica said. Under the Local Government Code, the barangay officials are deemed as "persons in authority" in their jurisdictions. The punong barangay enforces all laws and ordinances which are applicable within the territory, negotiates and signs contracts, maintains public order, prepares the barangay budget and approves vouchers relating to the disbursement of barangay funds. He or she is also entitled to carry firearms within his or her jurisdiction. The Sangguniang Barangay—composed of the punong barangay, seven members and the SK chairman—is authorized to enact ordinances including tax measures and budgets; provide for the construction of facilities; solicit or accept monies, materials and voluntary labor for specific public works projects; hold fund-raising activities; prescribe fines, organize tanods, among others. The funds, of course, include the IRA, the local governments’ share from national taxes collected. This year, barangays are allotted around 36.8 billion or 20 percent or the estimated P184 billion IRA. Barangays are also entitled to 25 percent of real property taxes, 35 percent of the proceeds of natural wealth extraction and 50 percent of community tax. They may levy fees and charges on commercial breeding of fighting cocks, cockfighting and cockpits; places of recreation which charge admission fees; and billboards, signboards, neon signs, and outdoor advertisements. Professor Simeon Ilago, director of the Center for Local and Regional Governance of the UP National College of Public Administration and Governance, said certain barangays, especially those housing power plants, are so wealthy their funds are more than the annual budget of fourth-class municipalities. But Ludovica said the honoraria and allowances they are receiving right now are not enough with the tough job that they have. “It’s kind of unfair," he said. He noted that the P25 million in IRA and other proceeds Batasan Hills receives every year is small considering the barangay population. The barangay, he said, is thus thankful to the President for all the financial help she is extending. A symbiotic relationship Of course, there are always some strings attached to Arroyo’s generosity. Batasan Hills’ Ludovica won’t categorically say that he campaigned for Arroyo during the 2004 presidential elections. He said he helped his constituents decide whom to vote by explaining the government programs that the chief executive hands down to them. “Tinulungan ko sila (constituents) in the form of information sa tamang pagpili, educate them based on programs na binababa sa atin. I can’t say na in-endorse ko siya," Ludovica said. Ludovica said he also facilitated “consultations" on Charter change in his barangay last year and happily reported that majority of the residents favor certain provisions of the proposed amended Constitution. The Liga ng mga Barangay, together with other local governments-based groups, has been consistently issuing resolutions of support to Arroyo during her times of crisis, especially when she was facing impeachment complaints. Only recently, the Liga issued yet another resolution expressing support to the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (Jpepa), which Arroyo signed with former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in 2006. Liga president James Marty Lim appealed to the Senate to immediately ratify the accord, saying it would present economic opportunities and help alleviate poverty in the barangays. Section 38 of the Omnibus Election Code states that the barangay election should be non-partisan, fast and inexpensive. Political parties or any other organization are not allowed to participate. “We all know that in reality, this is not followed," Ludovica said. He said some barangay candidates sought the support of politicians while in other cases, the politicians themselves offer help. Namedropping is the name of the game. In certain parts of the country, certain traditional politicians are reportedly using the barangay and SK polls to “position" themselves for the 2010 national elections, soliciting ground-level support from the barangay and SK officials, who will in turn get votes for them. Ilago said that ward politics clearly have breached the barangay level, despite the unit’s supposed impartiality. “The system has been politicized. To ensure the winnability of bets in the municipal level, they have to maintain wards in the lower levels. There should be an assurance that somebody within the community is watching your political interest. Hangga’t maaari, the barangay captain should be someone supporting you," Ilago said. Even the Commission on Elections acknowledged this when it issued Comelec Resolution 7798 in January this year in connection with the May 14 national and local election. The resolution reiterated the intent of a 1987 executive order prohibiting the appointment of barangay officials as chair or member of the Board of Election Inspectors or as official watcher of any candidate, political party or organization. It also banned them from staying inside any polling place except to cast their vote. The Comelec noted that records of past elections show that on election day, it usually receives numerous complaints against barangay officials entering polling places and interfering in the proceedings of the BEIs. This causes “not only delay in the proceedings, but also political tension among the BEIs, the voters and the watchers in the polling place," the resolution read. In the heat of the campaign season in May, senatorial candidate Luis “Chavit" Singson often met with barangay leaders to give “donations." Even Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez offered P10,000 per barangay captain for a 12-0 win in favor of Team Unity’s senatorial lineup in Iloilo. Singson and most TU candidates lost. Proof that in the end, the constituents—not their leaders—have the last say. - With reports from Mary Ann Señir