EDITORIAL
In search for responsible local leaders to manage P175 billion of public money
In terms of area and population, the barangay and the Sangguniang Kabataanor SK officials may be leading the smallest unit of society, but they are entrusted to manage not a minuscule public fund. In 2024, the country’s 41,953 barangays will handle Php174.27 billion national tax allocation or NTA. The SK will get 10% of this budget, or 17.43 billion. Some barangays also manage a hefty locally sourced income and allocation of local taxes from the municipality, city, and province where they belong. The Department of Budget and Management, or DBM, mandates that 20% of the annual budget must be appropriated for development projects. Funds mustalso be allocated for programs, projects, and activities as mandated by pertinent laws. The P174.27 billion pie for the barangays and the SK is bigger than the budget for the state universities and colleges and bigger than the allocation for medicines and vaccines. The budget for DOH-run hospitals and the Department of Agriculture proper also pale in comparison. The law requires that any person aspiring to become a barangay official must be able to read and write Filipino or any local language or dialect and must be resident in the barangay for at least 1 year immediately preceding the day of the election, among other qualifications. For SK positions, the candidate must, in addition to other qualifications, be a resident of the barangay for not less than 1 year immediately preceding the day of the election and be able to read and write Filipino, English, or the local dialect. Although the NTA varies in each barangay, barangay and SK officials will certainly manage millions of pesos of public money, which must be used following a labyrinth of laws, rules, and regulations. Recently, a cart business offering a few food products in an uncomplicated business process went viral on social media with its job posting that requires applicants to be at least a high school graduate knowledgeable with basic mathematical computations, with good visual impact, and pleasing personality, with weight proportional to height, clear complexion, eyesight and a good set of teeth. This employee must be handling only a few thousand pesos daily. The law may have set the bare minimum – able to read and write and one-year residency – for those aspiring for barangay positions despite the job’s complexity and level of difficulty. But this does not mean the upcoming barangay and SK elections must be trivialized. We elect first responders and frontline service providers in the barangay who handle significant public money. We must, therefore, choose the best and the brightest for the job who will serve their constituents with honesty and sincerity.