VP-Binay's idea: Appoint barangay captains

I bumped into Vice-President Jejomar Binay last Saturday when he came to Cebu for the opening of the One Cebu Expo at the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) and I told him that since he was on top of Scouting, he should push for more Scouting activities for our youth. He fully agreed with my suggestion, which was in line with my stand for the return of the ROTC because the old ways were much better than today.

Incidentally I also learned that the Vice-President had apparently issued a statement that he would rather not continue with the barangay elections because it just cost the government too much money. VP Binay who spoke before the 53rd General Assembly of the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) in Makati said, “Why do we have barangay Councilmen? What can they do, they don’t pass laws anyway? For me, I don’t agree to continue with the elections of barangay captain and the Sangguniang Kabataan.”

Instead, VP-Binay wants barangay officials appointed to their post by the LGU Mayors. Now this novel idea ought to be looked into, after all, VP-Binay is right… the barangay Council is nothing but a duplication of the provincial board, municipal and city councils. As for the SK, he believes that it should be abolished as it only breeds corruption. This is what we’ve been writing about quite recently that it’s about time to change the functions of the barangays as they have become nothing but a microcosm of the municipal or city council or the provincial boards.

Worse of all, politicians always tell us that the barangay elections are “non-partisan”. Perhaps they should tell this yarn to the Marines! The control of a province, town or city starts with the control of the barangay officials. Hence insisting that the Barangay polls are non-partisan is a big lie!

What I suggested long ago is to expand the membership of the barangays to more than one representative in the provincial board or municipal or city council, so that any laws that each barangay needs, can be addressed by the provincial board, the municipal or city councils, then we can do away with the barangay councils and yes, maybe it is time to have the barangay captains appointed. This idea hasn’t been done yet and maybe it just might work! It is worth a try!

Our political leadership knows that each barangay has unique requirements. Some badly need security; hence the barangay captain should be one who comes from the military or police. Other barangays merely need more health or sanitation, then a good Doctor can come in handy. Some barangays are tourist oriented, hence they need a leader who is service oriented so their barangay can be tourist friendly. So should barangay captains be appointed? I’d like to hear a debate on this novel idea.

As for the SK, I have long been in favor of abolishing this because it’s not helping our youth become better citizens. In fact, the SK has become a tool by traditional politicians who let their children ran for SK post so they can perpetuate their hold on political power. Hence, let us get rid of SK and strengthen the Boys and Girls Scouts and bring back the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) so we can have a disciplined youth, unlike today, their energies are spent in useless fraternity wars. 

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Professional golfing in the Philippines just got a shot in the arm with the 1st Aboitiz International Invitational Golf that kicked off last Aug. 10 at the Cebu Country Club golf course starting with a Pro-Amateur Tournament. I haven’t joined a pro-am for a long time and last Tuesday, call it coincidental that the professional player on my flight was Mr. Elmer Salvador, whom we recently wrote about in our column last July 30 about that historic incident at the Del Monte golf course where Salvador, Richard Sinfuego and Juvic Pagunsan were disqualified for a little known rule.

Looking at the way Elmer Salvador is playing, I’m sure that he’s in great shape to recapture the title that was denied him at Del Monte. He wowed us when he eagled the par 5 hole no.7th and chipped in a birdie in the brand new hole no.5. Of course they have fought hard in the last three days and we’ll find out today who will emerge the champion at the Cebu Country Club Golf Course. But for sure, the sponsorship of the Aboitiz Group of Companies and of course the International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) means that professional golf in the Philippines is alive and well.

Golfing like, soccer or archery is one sport where Filipinos do not have a natural handicap. Come now, we’re just too short a people yet, we are too preoccupied with basketball where height is important. The sponsorship of companies like Aboitiz is important to professional golf or else it will die out. 

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