Managing a million

A million pesos may sound like loose change in the big political landscape but that is definitely big bucks at the barangay level.

Speaker Jose de Venecia’s one-million endowment to every barangay in his district, which will come from his  Priority Development Assistance Fund — more popularly and fittingly known as pork barrel, reeks of patronage politics but it is there, it has been offered and barangay officials might as well take full advantage of it.

And by taking advantage, we absolutely do not mean for their personal gain and glory.

As JDV himself reminded them: “We didn’t run to become rich, powerful, abusive or arrogant.”

There is plenty to be done at the barangay level.

A million pesos can go a long way in the development of the communities, with the people at the grassroots level holding the power to make decisions for themselves.

Priority projects should not be limited to the construction of basketball courts, prettier barangay halls or concreting of roads, the usual schemes that are notorious for providing easy channels in carrying out corrupt habits.

To begin with, barangay leaders must hold serious consultations with their constituents, with as many sectors as possible represented, so that the community can jointly identify exactly what their needs are, which ones should get a share of the fund and how much.

Then they should plot a calendar with the schedule of activities clearly listed to make sure that the identified  projects will be carried out on time and before the next barangay elections come around.

A million is not a lot to manage and with everyone participating in the development program, transparency can be ensured.

And perhaps some of the 140 barangays in the 4th District could even prove to be a model of how good governance can be made real in this country.

Now we will have to wait and see how quickly JDV is going to make good on his promise.

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