Wanted: Reforms vs corruption in barangay affairs
WHILE the country routinely went through the campaign and election of their leaders in their respective barangays, hidden away from the electorate were the worsening illegal and anomalous activities in the disbursement of hundreds of thousands of barangay funds.
As expected, both the wannabes and the incumbents hardly raised any issue on widespread and unchecked corruption when, in fact, corruption issues are crucial to barangay governance.
In the national level, there are already persistent calls for the abolition of the Sanggunian Kabataaan, citing the wrong values being taught by their elders serving in the barangay government – specifically, how to steal public funds freely made available to them.
These claims are not without basis. The past and incumbent barangay officials know this situation too well. They were not and have been made to account for padded expenditures for the implementation of their seeming “worthy” community projects. Yet, not a few barangay chairmen have been complained about by their constituents for their overnight extravagance while in office including acquisition of vehicles for their private use, renovation of their houses cum barangay extension offices, etc. but these were accepted as “normal”.
In fact, many SK officials, mostly kin of incumbent local politicians, already feel entitled to quote overpriced sports equipment for their ‘youth’ projects, tools for community beautification projects, etc. While their peers knew about these but said nothing, it’s because their leaders were the sons and daughters of their kapitan, mayors and councilors.
It does not help that the national government is indifferent. It believes that making barangay and SK officials accountable for “measly hundreds of pesos,” would not be worth government’s time and resources. So, the S.O.P. is merely to make all barangays sign certifications of their expenditures without any compulsion to justify the values.
The realization today that many incumbents lost to new faces in the barangay presents an opportunity to start meaningful reforms in barangay governance. There is still time to turn the tide for good governance and shun the trapo ways of governance for self-aggrandizement. But will the new set of elected officials care to make a difference today and tomorrow and demand full transparency and accountability from their leaders??
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