LIBERAL Party’s vice presidential bet, Rep. Leni Robredo, believes that more opportunities for the barangays to grow and become more self-sufficient to enable them to serve their constituents better is the key to inclusive economic growth in the country.

She bared her thoughts on national development during the opening program of the Children’s Summit on Health held in Dagupan City last week.

Ms. Robredo cited the efforts at the House of Representatives through bills seeking to institutionalize the Bottoms Up Budgeting  (BUB), which now benefits municipalities and cities throughout the country.

Addressing her speech to barangay captains of Dagupan, Ms. Robredo said BUB, which was initiated by her late husband, Jesse Robredo when he was the secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), must be institutionalized to ensure its continuity even when a new administration takes over.

In the same vein, she also filed a bill also seeking to institutionalize the Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino program (4Ps) to ensure that the next succeeding administration will continue this novel program that now benefits the most marginalized sector of the society in the Philippines.

Ms. Robredo said that under the BUB, municipalities are getting from P15 million to P20 million projects each from the national government for 2016 and these projects identified by the people in these localities through their respective People’s Organizations.

She added that all barangays throughout the country will also get P1 million worth of BUB projects each year beginning 2017.

The BUB is one of the best practices of her native Naga City initiated by her late husband who was mayor for nine years and which he introduced to the whole country when he was secretary of DILG.

Explaining that barangays are close to her heart whose people she had worked with when her late husband was mayor of Naga City, the congresswoman said the proposed Barangay Reform Bill which she co-authored in the House of Representatives seeks to extend their term of office from three years to five years.

She said a three-years term is too short for barangay officials.

She also proposed in another bill she authored that the salaries of the Barangay Health Workers and other volunteer workers as well as the barangay tanod be shouldered finally by the national government to ensure that salaries of barangay workers will be uniform throughout the country.

The bill, she said, will also institutionalize a pension system for all barangay health workers who after completing nine years of continuous service must be entitled to a minimum pension as a reward for their dedicated services. (Leonardo Micua)

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