Can Barangay Officials Carry Firearms?

A barangay official in Pampanga had been criticized recently when a photograph showed him carrying a long firearm while manning traffic along a portion of the national highway.

Sun Star Pampanga reported that the barangay official justified his actions by saying that he was just responding to a robbery incident where a couple were shot and robbed by robbers riding in motorcycles.

Photo credit news.am.

Besides "barangay executives may carry firearms during hot pursuit operations" he further justified.

Which I believe to be partly correct because the law indeed allows barangay chairmen to bear arms, subject to appropriate rules and regulations. 

But brandishing a firearm by someone not properly identified in a national highway could not only cause alarm to passing motorists but could also be technically wrong, or even illegal.  A national highway is no longer barangay territory although it may be passing through a barangay.

The barangay chairman in question cited Section 389 of the Local Government Code which states that "In the performance of his peace and order functions, the punong barangay shall be entitled to possess and carry the necessary firearm within his territorial jurisdiction, subject to appropriate rules and regulations".

Speaking of “appropriate rules and regulations”, what are these rules?  And who issue the rules?

One time I saw a barangay chairman signed documents on the firearms issued to him by the provincial capitol.  Was the provincial government the one issuing the firearm or was it just merely facilitating it for the PNP?

In another instance, I witnessed the issuance of shotguns several years back by a senator (now a congressman) to the barangays of a town.  I learned that this was from his CDF funds or more notoriously known as “pork barrel”.  This former senator turned congressman is the father of an ex-congressman who is currently subject of a COA investigation. 

But that is another story.

My point here is this, are congressmen allowed too to issue high-powered firearms such as shotguns to barangays?  

Unfortunately, one of these shotguns was not used according to “appropriate rules and regulations”.  It even cost the life of a barangay constituent. 

A barangay chairman of the town who received one of these shotguns allowed a tanod in his barangay to use it in his regular patrols.  Take note that Section 389 specifically prescribes that only the chairman is authorized to carry firearms. 

One time the barangay hall received a call that a drunk was creating trouble in the neighborhood.  When the tanod arrived at the area to pacify the troublemaker, he was attacked by the drunk with a bolo.  Acting in self-defense, he was forced to use the gun on the man, according to those who witnessed the incident. The man died instantly from the shotgun’s blast to his face.

Because of this incident, this tanod who’s obviously just doing his job is now facing charges and is only out on bail.  Not because rules on handling firearms in the barangay was the issue.  He’s in trouble because of the election ban on carrying of firearms during an election period! Talking of technicalities.

Anyway, this issue of carrying firearms by barangay officials makes me ask questions. 

What should be the protocols?  Are barangay chairmen the only ones that should be allowed by law to carry firearms?  Should it not extend to qualified tanods as well? 

When you hear about sightings of armed men roaming around in your neighborhood in the middle of the night and the tanods are helpless to do anything about it, you might say yes to the idea.

Considering the shortage of policemen in our country, arming the tanods could be one great way of preventing crimes in our communities.    

But then again utmost care must be taken when we allow this. 

First, there must be a “rethinking” in the way we recruit, train and deploy tanods or village watchmen or barangay police or whatever, before we ever think of the idea of arming them. 

Photo credit sz-n.com

Unlike in advanced countries with relatively low crime rates such as Switzerland where it is required for everyone to own and be well trained in handling of firearms, we are not yet ready and are too “primitive” for this.

Oh well, maybe it’s just wishful thinking, but what a nice wishful thought. 

Imagine, not even Hitler dared in World War II to invade this country of well-trained militias and where requiring everyone to have a firearm and be good at using it is the rule rather than the exception.

No wonder most of the Popes throughout history trust only the Swiss guards to protect them.

Rich Subdivision Says No to Barangay Hall

Does a homeowners association have the right and power to stop the government from putting up structures such as a barangay hall inside their village?

This issue was put to test when “over 1,000 subdivision residents have slammed the Quezon City government  for allowing the construction of a barangay hall  inside Greenmeadows 3 ‘without consultation’” according to the The Manila Standard Today.  

Mary Anne Vargas, Board Chairwoman of the Third Greenmeadows Homeowners Association Inc., said the site of the barangay hall is in a private property.

Greenmeadows Clubhouse

“Traffic, garbage, peace and order, and our security are our concerns if a public facility is put up inside our private property...” she said.

The Manila Standard further reported “William Espina, assistant head of Greenmeadows administration, other officials, and residents, including retired police generals are all opposed the construction”.

Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista, for his part, refused to make a statement.  “No comment for now,” he told the Manila Standard in a text message.

The said piece of land is located along Temple Drive near Greenmeadows 3 within Barangay Ugong Norte, Q.C.  It is a 9,800-square meter developed eco-green park, jogging area, plant and flower garden, and venue of many landscape exhibits, according to the Standard.

 “Let the law prevail.  No one is above the law, “ Vargas told reporters in reaction to the plan of the city government to build a barangay hall in the area in question.

She insisted that the government should respect PD 957.

PD 957? 

Ex President Marcos

As someone who lived and experienced the entirety of Martial Law years, it sounded like a presidential decree enacted during the time of Marcos.  And I was not mistaken.

Otherwise known as the Subdivision and Condominium Buyer's Protective Decree, it was issued in 1976 to regulate the sale of subdivision lots and condominiums in the country and provides the penalties for violating it.

It states that the developer of a subdivision project should initiate the organization of a homeowners’ association among the residents for the purpose of promoting and protecting their mutual interests and assist in

community development (Section 30).

It also provides that upon completion of a subdivision project, the developer may donate the roads and open spaces to the city or municipal government and no portion of it can be converted for any other purpose unless approved by the national government’s housing authorities (Section 31).

When I checked further to find out whether this decree was amended or not, I discovered that it was indeed amended by another presidential decree the following year, P.D. No. 1216.

In this amended version, the term open spaces was clearly defined as an “area reserved exclusively for parks, playgrounds, recreational uses, schools, roads, places of worship, hospitals, health centers, barangay centers…”.

 

Mormon Temple Along Temple Drive

Whoops, barangay centers? 

Maybe this is the provision of the amendment with which the Quezon City government is using to justify the building of a barangay hall in the contested property.   

That is, if we are talking here of the same property donated by the developer, Ortigas and Company, to the city government and eventually to the Greenmeadows Homeowners Association.

If this is the case, then the city government has live ammunition in its hands.  

On the other hand, if this is indeed private property, as what Vargas insisted, then the government is faced with an equally battle-ready opponent who has the law on its side.

But then the government may have another hidden bullet, its power of eminent domain or its right to take over private property if necessary.     

I can only speculate here that a protracted legal battle may be  in the offing in this case. 

What about you dear readers, what sayeth thou?

The 'Invisible' Barangay People

I was a bit shocked to learn that in 2010, there were 7.5 million Filipinos who were not registered at birth.  That's according to government statistics.  It’s possible that even more births were not registered since then.

Says a recent Philippine Star editorial, “this is a problem that afflicts the very poor who can’t afford to deliver the babies in a hospital and who consider it too much trouble to register a child’s birth in the city or town hall”.

Rappler.com photo

 Despite the ban in many cities and towns in various parts of the country, there are still countless incidents of births taking place at home.  

The editorial went further saying that if this is the case, the government must do something by reaching out to these people and bring this service wherever they are. 

Without a birth certificate, technically we don’t exist.  And if we don’t exist how can we expect the government to provide us with basic services such as free public education and health care.  Getting a job here and abroad will be almost impossible if we don’t have one.

As an advocate of the empowerment of the barangays, I find the position of the popular broadsheet to be in agreement with what I think is the right approach to address the issue.  However, I disagree with the paper's statement  “this is where the barangay personnel can make themselves useful”.  As if the barangay officials are not that useful in this respect.

Being on the ground, barangay officials are the most capable in reaching out to the people, even if they’re in the remotest of areas.  They know their communities well, they keep track of what’s going on with their constituents, who gave birth, who died and who got married. 

Having served in a barangay as adviser and volunteer officer for several years, I know this to be true.

In fact, when it comes to fulfilling the functions of the civil registrar, the barangay is even empowered by law to help out in recording and reporting births, deaths and marriages.  These are included in the provisions of Section 394 of the Local Government Code.

Not only in civil registration matters that the barangay is needed to keep records.  Section 394 also requires the barangays to keep a database of all their residents, their full names, exact addresses, place and date of births, gender, civil status, citizenship and other important information. In addition, their contact numbers or email addresses should also be included in the records.

A localized census of the actual number of residents in a barangay may also be required by the Sangguniang Barangay from time to time and could be very useful for planning and budget preparations.

I find maintaining records to be very helpful also in addressing many other problems and concerns in a barangay, like issuing permits and clearances, certifications and maintaining peace and order.

 

Other 'invisible" barangay people

Can you imagine what would a barangay be like when it fails to account for people who happen to be convicted murderers or rapists or pushers from other places, but are now living in your barangay?

dreamstime.com photo

There are many instances when barangays issue a barangay clearance to some of these people because it has not kept accurate records of its constituents and failed to back-check those who transferred from other barangays.

With the availability of computers and its prices becoming even more cheaper, this should not be happening any more.  it's easier and faster now to keep records of all information needed in a barangay. 

With computers, setting up and managing a computerized barangay records management system is not that difficult today.  Almost every barangay can now afford to have it.   A computer, even the older version, has a built-in operating system in it that can automate record-keeping even in a poor barangay.

Does your barangay still keep its records in rusty filing cabinets and issue clearances with old dilapidated typewriters? If it does, start praying and hope that in the next three years, your community will be able to find a better replacement for your "old school" barangay officials.

 

 

The Richest and the poorest barangays in the Philippines

Manila Times reported in December, 2013 that of the 42,028 barangays in the Philippines, the one that can be considered the richest is Barangay Bel Air in Makati City and the poorest is Barangay Pange in Zamboanga Del Norte.

What does it mean to be a rich and a poor barangay?

Income of course is the main basis.    

There are many ways with which a barangay earns.  Among its sources of income are the Internal Revenue Allotment or IRA from the national government and the rest from local real property taxes and fees.  A barangay may also receive grants and donations.

In most instances a barangay rely on IRA as source of revenue to cover its administrative expenses which is more than half usually.  Whatever is left is channeled to projects.

According to Locadio Trovela, Director of the National Barangay Operations Center of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, out of the more than 42,000 barangays in the country, only 1.8% or 754 may be considered “rich”.

By rich it means that the IRA they received ranged from P5 million to P40 million each.  Six of these barangays received P40 million or more.  The rest received between P1 million to P5 million.

Barangay Bel Air, Makati  Photo: blog.propertymarket.ph

Although Barangay Bel Air is considered the richest because of the income it received from real property and business taxes (which is huge because the headquarters of some of the country’s biggest corporations are located in Barangay Bel Air) its IRA is small compared to other barangays such as Barangay 176 in Caloocan City which received the highest, a whopping P90 million.

Why is this so?

The basis of allocating IRA shares are basically land area and population.  There are barangays who have land areas almost as big or larger than a Metro Manila city but has very few inhabitants so they just received a small allocation.  Barangay 176 in Caloocan City for example has a land area of more than 500 hectares, the nearest to San Juan City's 700 plus hectares, but it has hundreds of thousands of residents so it gets the biggest share of the pie.

Just how wealthy is barangay Bel Air?  

In 2012, the barangay’s income from fees, taxes and its share from the internal revenue allocation totaled P155.7 million based on DILG figures.  This is huge that there cities in the country whose income are no match to the income of Bel Air.   

How about the poorest barangay?

According to the same Manila Times report I cited earlier, if Bel-Air is the richest barangay, Barangay Pange in Saiyan, Zamboanga del Norte is the poorest.                                                                

Located near the boundary of Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga del Sur, Barangay Pange is one of the 16 barangays created when the town of Saiyan in Zamboanga del Norte became a municipality in 1967. 

About 38 kilometers from the town proper, Pange has no electricity, no potable water system, and no health and daycare centers.  It is situated in one of the most rugged terrains in the Zamboanga peninsula, too remote and almost inaccessible to public transportation.  

About 99 percent of its 1,100 residents are Subanen, a local ethnic group that only communicate through their own dialect.                                                           

Pange has an annual budget of less than P1 million and is likely to be vulnerable to anti-government insurgency, says the report.                                     

A Former Governor While Talking to a Barefoot Boy

Expecting nothing when I googled ‘barangay pange”,  I was pleasantly surprised to find  something written about it in the provincial website by a certain Don Guerra, a cultural worker.   Due to the poverty in the area, he reported that the residents only eat two times a day, and they have been used to it for a long time.  People are hopeful though that Pange’s poverty situation will be eased. The Barangay Chairman stressed the need for roads up to the poblacion.  He also added the importance of a health center in their barangay.

What caught my curiosity in the photo ops is the picture of the barefoot boy being given a pair of slippers by a former governor which looked like a once in lifetime event in the barangay.

How many such barangays do we have in the Philippines, so poor that when a politician visits and distributes slippers, it’s big deal?

A good friend, former Dean of U.P. College of Forestry and one of the country’s highly respected scientists both here and abroad, told me about a project he is working on when I visited him in Los Banos the other day.  He is in the midst of a breakthrough project in Mindanao and it’s about to take off in just a few months. This project is being implemented in a barangay there where the residents are probably as poor as those in Barangay Pange.  But because it promises great economic potential, those people in the barangay he is working with stand to benefit tremendously from the lucrative income to be derived from it.  It is expected to change their lives forever.

Talk of economic empowerment?  Maybe there are thousands of other barangays out there waiting for something like this to happen.  The leaders and residents just need to put their heads together to find out what is best for them. 

Afterthought: One sunny afternoon, way back in the Fifties when I was just about 5 years old,  and when Makati was not yet rich then as it is today, I watched with awe and admiration an uncle operating his tractor/bulldozer on a wide field dotted here and there with acacia trees.  Remembering that scene, I now realize that the very place where I stood while watching him was almost the spot where the awesome Yuchengco Tower at the corner of Ayala and Gil Puyat Avenues now stands (The Building on the leftmost side of photo).  That area happens to be a part of Barangay Bel Air today.