Guadalupe barangay captian Eugenio “Jing-Jing” Faelnar must have etched his decision to leave the presidency of the Association of Barangay Councils in stone.
That is because no amount of imploring by most of the 57 out of 80 barangay captains who attened yesterday’s 4th general assembly of the ABC at the Eduardo Aboitiz Development Studies Center could melt the heart of Faelnar into acceding to the clamor for him to stay on.
Faelnar had earlier said he was giving up what amounted to a certain reelection to the top ABC post in favor of devoting more time to his duties as barangay captain. As president of the ABC, Faelnar gets to sit in the city council as sectoral representative of the barangays.
In yesterday’s assembly, many barangay captains tried in vain to make him change his mind.
Aside from saying he wants to devote more time to his barangay, the biggest in the city, Faelnar said he also wants to give the other barangay captains the chance to head the ABC and sit in the city council.
Faelnar said whoever sits as new ABC head will have the chance to do better than what he has done over the last five years.
But as what Tessa Paradiang, the ABC executive secretary, rendered in her overall five-year performance report, the tenure of Faelnar as head of the organization would be hard to beat.
Paradiang said the ABC under Faelnar managed to generate millions of pesos in savings for the organization despite the failure of some barangays to pay various dues.
According to Paradiang, the ABC under Faelnar managed to collect P1.5 million in “Liga ng mga Barangay” dues from 59 barangays in the city, as well as P4.1 million representing the proportionate shares paid by the barangays to the ABC.
The “Liga” dues are fixed at P25,750 per barangay while the proportionate shares depend on the internal revenue allotment and income of the barangays. The operations of the ABC depend on these contributions, which are used to pay for the salaries of the staffs and the activities of the council, as well as financial aid and services to barangays.
Paradiang said of the 80 barangays in the city, Lahug, Parian, San Antonio and Bulacao were not able to pay both Liga dues and proportionate shares since 2002.
Barangays of Labangon, Pahina San Nicolas and Poblacion Pardo were also not able to pay their proportionate shares since 2002, said Paradiang, who said that if barangays do not pay these dues, they have no right to ask for services from the council.
Still, the non-payment of dues will not disenfranchise barangay captains from voting in the ABC elections.
Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno explained that the move is meant to ensure that every barangay is represented in the ABC elections.
Puno ordered all DILG officers in the different regions to ensure that his instructions in this regard is followed.
The ABC election code provides that one of the requirements for the barangay captains to participate in the ABC elections is to show proof of payment of the required dues.
Interestingly, the captains of some of the barangays mentioned as having failed to make regular payments on the required dues are in the running for ABC president — Mary Ann delos Santos of Lahug, and Felix Abella of Labangon.
Delos Santos is a political enemy of Mayor Tomas Osmena, considered to be the patron of Faelnar.
Basak San Nicolas barangay captain George Rama, a very close ally of Osmena, continued with his eyebrow-raising moves at the assembly by openly asking Faelnar to run again for ABC president, just days after shocking everyone with the statement that he considers delos Santos a good material for the post.
Moved by the glowing report on Faelnar’s performance by Paradiang, Rama said he could think of no other person better qualified to head the ABC again that Faelnar.
“Based on the report that was just presented, no other former ABC president can match the performance of the current president, “ he said.
Rama said that while he admires delos Santos’ leadership skills and wants her to be the next ABC president, with the good performance of Faelnar, there is no reason why he should not continue serving as head of the organization.
“Why do we have to kill the mango tree that gives us a lot of fruits, “ Rama said to the cheers and laughter of the audience.
Mango is one of the famous agricultural products of Faelnar’s barangay Guadalupe.
Rama later clarified that while he admires delos Santos for her leadership skills, that does not mean he will vote for her.
Basak Pardo barangay captain Dave Tumulak said new barangay captains like himself could perform better under the guidance of veteran ABC leaders like Faelnar.
Another major accomplishment of the ABC under Faelnar is the construction of an P11 million ABC building at the South Road Properties, Paradiang said. ( Wenna Berondo and Rene Borromeo/JST )