SPECIAL REPORT: The barangay up close A special report on the coming Barangay Elections (First of two parts)

A veteran barangay leader, who used to be a Teniente Del Barrio some 50 years ago, is calling on those who are running for barangay positions in the coming barangay polls to sincerely commit to public service.

Rufino Gabison, 78, who used to be Teniente Del Barrio in Barangay Tangke in the then Municipality of Talisay, believes that the monthly honorarium for barangay officials is the main reason why many people now want to be elected into barangay posts.

“Kadtong amo kaniadto tinuoray’ng serbisyo g’yud kay wala may honorarium. Karon sigurado nga daghang kandidato nag-apas lang sa dagku nga honorarium,” said Gabison.

When Gabison assumed the position as Vice Teniente Del Barrio in Barangay Tangke, Talisay in 1960 and later on Teniente Del Barrio, he did not receive even a single centavo in exchange for his service to his constituents.

The barangay then and now

In the past, the barangays depend on the city or municipal government for projects because it does not have taxing powers. However, when the Local Government Code was enacted, the barangays were empowered to also collect taxes and other revenues.

Then, the barangays also started receiving their share of the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA), or their shares of the taxes collected from the national government. Aside from that, the barangay also receives a share from real property tax collections from the city or municipal government.

Elections have also brought changes to the barangay. Before, barangay officials, specifically the barangay captain, then called Cabeza De Barangay, and later on renamed Teniente Del Barrio, were appointed by the mayor.

Gabison, who now lives in barangay San Roque, Talisay City and is one of the barangay’s Lupong Tagapamayapa, said only those who are wealthy and with good standing in the community, were eligible for appointment as Teniente Del Barrio for a two-year term.

The Teniente Del Barrio then appoints a Vice Teniente Del Barrio to assist him in his duties. For every 5,000 constituents, the barangay is entitled to have one Vice Teniente Del Barrio. Barangays with big populations can have more than one Vice Teniente Del Barrio.

Gabison said in 1962, then Senate President Arturo Tolentino introduced a bill, which was later enacted into a law, for the election of the Teniente Del Barrio. Two years later, in 1972, then Senator Jovito Salonga also introduced a bill renaming the title Teniente Del Barrio to Barrio Captain.

In the military rank, a Captain is a higher than a Teniente or Leiutenant. During the Spanish Colonization in the country, from 1521 to 1898, the barangays were governed by a Cabeza de Barangay. The Cabezas de Barangay elect among themselves the Gobernadorcillo or Capitan Municipal, now called mayor.

According to Republic Act 7160, otherwise known as the Local Government Code (LGC), the barangay is considered the smallest local government unit, but the barangay captain is even more powerful than the mayor and governor.

In cities, municipalities and provinces, the head of the legislative body is not the mayor or governor but the vice mayor or vice governor. In barangays, however, the barangay captain heads the executive department, the legislative (Barangay Council) and the judiciary (Lupong Tagapamayapa).

The Lupon’s function is to conciliate, mediate and in some occasions, to arbitrate disputes at the barangay level to avoid legal action and decongest the courts.

The barangay captain also supervises the barangay police or tanods, through the tanod chief. In some barangays where the elected captains are not yet familiar with their duties and responsibilities, the barangay captain, with the concurrence of the members of the Barangay Council, hires someone to work as barangay administrator.

At present, there are 42,028 barangays in the country and 3,003 of them are in Central Visayas. There are 4,263,734 registered voters in the entire region, aside from the 263,081 registered voters for the Sanguniang Kabataan (SK).

In Cebu City there are about 2,000 aspirants who had filed their Certificates of Candidacies (COCs) before the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Non-partisan?

Barangay elections are supposed to be non-partisan, but this is not strictly followed because it is considered an “open secret” that some top ranking politicians, particularly mayors and congressmen, support and give financial and other kinds of assistance to their supporters, who also helped them during their campaign.

This partisanship with political groups are evident when barangay candidates start campaigning. Most often than not, the candidates would wear colors that identify them with a certain political group.

In Cebu City for example, barangay candidates who are allied with Mayor Michael Rama wear green and yellow uniforms, while those who are allied with the Bando Osmeña Pundok-Kauswagan (BOPK), wear blue shirts.

 But what happens if there are two or more opposing groups in a barangay that are all allies of the same political group? Mayor Rama said he knows how to handle the situation.

In Barangay Tinago, reelectionist Barangay Captain Dominador “Doming” Lopez, who is a cousin of the mayor, is being challenged by Councilman Joel Garganera. Both of them are Rama’s allies.

Garganera said the mayor assured him that he will not endorse any candidate, even if the incumbent barangay captain is his cousin. “Free zone mi diri, gi-announce na ni mayor nga bahala na ang mga botante kinsa kanamong duha ang ilang pilion.”  (To be continued..) — /QSB (FREEMAN)