Our barangay - A case study

When I started to reside at Villa Aurora Subdivision, in Barangay Kasambagan, this city, almost four decades ago, our only point of entry and exit was the F. Cabahug Street. It started from the then San Jose de la Montana (now Juan Luan Avenue). This road, a stretch of less than a kilometer, ended near a vast cane field which we thought to be owned by the Zosa-Mercado family.

 There were less than a hundred homes in the subdivision then. Very few public utility jeepneys would go into our place. We enjoyed relative peace and quiet. Our network of subdivision roads was more than enough to take the small volume of traffic.

 Then, a little more than a decade and a half ago, the F. Cabahug Street was extended. We were told that a slice of the pork barrel of our lawmaker was poured unto the project. An inexplicable engineering characterized the extension. When we noticed that it wound its way thru the assets of the congressman’s friends, we looked up to the sky and sighed out our resignation.

 The linking up of F. Cabahug Street with the Hernan Cortes Street in Barangay Subangdaku, Mandaue City, opened our subdivision to a heavy load of traffic. We lost our tranquil living. Of late, a friend of mine sent me a text(ed) message warning me of the rash of petty thieveries, roadside hold-up and snatchings in our area.

 There is a barangay outpost near the subdivision entrance. It is located along the road and painted with garish colors. In all probability, this was built in response to the alarming peace and order condition mentioned by my friend. But, I have not seen anyone manning it. If it is the work of the tanods to help maintain peace and order in our subdivision, they are, by their disappearance, doing a complete disservice. And if the tanods function under the direct supervision of our barangay leaders, by the same measure, our barangay officials have miserably failed us.

 From this case of our barangay, we discern few things. First. The pork barrel can be a viable source of funds to support development. But, it should not be availed of to favor the interest of a few over the many. Most importantly, it has to be used after most careful advance planning. I remember the rationale given by our lady lawmaker and her father in pushing for the fly-over at Gorordo Avenue. Their only reason was that “the money is there’. These words betray the lack of forward planning.

 Second. The absence of planning is evidenced by the horrible flow of traffic we are now suffering in our place. Our residence is located near what was once the dead end of F. Cabahug Street. Before the extension road was built, it would only take us about two minutes to reach the corner of San Jose de la Montana. Not anymore. Our normal travel time today, covering the same distance is a good twenty minutes. If there was planning, this could have been anticipated.

 Third. There are barangay officials who do not understand what they are supposed to do with limited barangay funds. It has become an obvious waste of our taxes in Barangay Kasambagan to build something that is useless. That barangay outpost may not cost much but because it is not at all used, the small amount of money spent to construct it was a sum thrown away.

 Fourth. The peace and order problem is also a result of demography. People from various places converge in our city for diverse reasons. Those who have come here without visible source of livelihood are forced to do undesirable deeds. This is a given. It is possible that the culprits of the crimes taking place in our barangay are residents in other areas. So, our officials must live up to the challenge of changing conditions. They have to adopt measures that address ever-evolving situations.

It is impossible to return the condition of our village to circa 1970’s. But it is not impossible for our leaders to demonstrate that things are being done to match the passing of years with acceptable forms of progress.