Guingona hears suggestions before crafting barangay reform bill

The need for retirement benefits, term extensions and the creation of more barangays were among the concerns raised by Cebu barangay officials during a consultation initiated by Sen. Teofisto “TG” Guingona.

Guingona said he is partnering with the Liga ng mga Barangay ng Pilipinas in  the nationwide consultation which they kicked off in Cebu on Thursday to solicit suggestions on how the barangay reform bill that he would author, should be crafted.

He visited Minglanilla and Ronda towns and The City of Naga  on Thursday for the consultation.

Guingona also spoke during the Liga ng mga Barangay ng Pilipinas Leyte Chapter’s annual provincial convention held in Mandaue City yesterday to raise awareness on their nationwide consultation.

“Ug naa moy mga suggestion, ideas ihatag lang sa inyong mga kapitan aron ma-apil sa maong balaod (If you have some suggestions, just give it to your barangay captain so these can be included in the reform bill),” he told over a hundred Leyte barangay officials during their convention.

A barangay official from Naga City told Guingona during the consultation on Thursday that the three-year term of barangay officials was too brief.

Another one raised the need to give retirement benefits to barangay officials who have completed three terms of public service.

“Ug mo end na among term wala nay madawat (When our term ends, we have nothing to receive),” the barangay official said.

Guingona said there were earlier proposals for the passage of a law that would allow term extensions for barangay officials. But mere focus on term extensions may be perceived as politically motivated, he added.

To prevent suspicions of personal gain, Guingona said, he sat down with the league’s national officials and agreed on the need to conduct a nationwide consultation during the months of March and April before he would draft the barangay reforms bill that he would submit to the senate.

Guingona said that even the need to reduce the size of some barangays should be included in his draft barangay reforms bill.

There exists some barangays that have populations of 20,000 to 25,000 comparable to that of a town.

He said that his bill would also propose a permanent schedule for the conduct of the barangay election “aron ma predictable ang terms sa mga (so that we can predict the terms of) barangay captains.”

“Panahon na nga maghimo ta ug bag-ong balaod bahin sa mga barangay (It’s now time for us to create a new law for the barangays),” Guingona said in a message which he delivered in Friday’s Leyte Province league convention.