With the barangay as the basic administrative engine of grassroots development, Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte cited the need that its officials be accorded the status of and given the privileges granted to regular government employees.
Villafuerte raised this point in backing the proposal of Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez for the 19th Congress to craft a new legislation on a proposed Magna Carta for Barangays, to ensure the provision of comprehensive facilities and services for all barangays along with fixed and better benefits for village officials.
A key feature of this proposed Magna Carta is to classify barangay officials as regular government employees, which, Villafuerte said, will mean that instead of getting mere allowances for their work under the current setup, village executives will each be entitled to a fixed salary plus 13th month and retirement pay, representation and transportation allowance (RATA), clothing allowance, insurance, medical and dental coverage, and all other fringe benefits enjoyed by state workers.
“A Magna Carta for our barangays is long overdue, given that these most basic units of our political system play a central role in the formulation, evaluation and implementation of policies from the national government level,” Villafuerte said.
“As the primary administrative engines of grassroots development with its officials given the daunting collective responsibility of implementing programs, maintaining public order, and ensuring the welfare of every Filipino,” he said, “a Magna Carta is a must to truly empower our barangays by making sure that all of them have appropriate basic services and facilities, and their local officials assured of benefits and privileges accorded regular government employees.”
The proposed Magna Carta should likewise empower the Sangguniang Barangays or village councils to determine the needed number of Barangay Tanods in their respective villages, considering that these watchmen are the bastion of public order and safety at the community level, he said.
In two recent events of the Liga ng mga Barangay (LNB), Romualdez advocated the congressional passage of a proposed Magna Carta for Barangays, and said these officials should have comprehensive benefits, including their coverage under the Social Security System (SSS) so they could have lifetime insurance and pension upon their retirement.
Romualdez further told the LNB members that he has a separate bill giving each of them a fixed term of six years to insulate them from electoral concerns and allow them to focus on their tasks for their respective constituents.
Villafuerte said he agreed with Romualdez that barangay officials deserve their own Magna Carta, in light of the vital task that they perform in linking their respective barangays to the national government with regard to the delivery of basic services at the community level.
