Speech
of
His Excellency Fidel V. Ramos
President of the Philippines
At the Executive Session with the Liga ng Mga Barangay

[Delivered at Heroes Hall, Malacañang, January 30, 1997]

The quality
of government

ONE COLUMNIST has wryly observed that our network of 42,000 barangays “indubitably shows the quantity of government we have in this country; but we must wonder whether this also means a high quality of government in the land.”

This is the central challenge that you and I must address together. Our Charter framers were wise to designate the barangay as the base for government administration.

But Government can only become compassionate and vibrant to the extent that our barangay officials meet their mandate—by helping to translate policies and programs into action that result in change. I have always made it a point to touch base with barangay leaders during my visits to the regions and provinces.

Effective units of administration

And through your national president Alex David, I have been regularly receiving reports on the various activities and programs that the League has undertaken, as well as the problems you have been encountering in your work. Together, let us draw up a national barangay development and assistance program that will help especially the poorest barangays.

If our recent history teaches us anything, it is the fact that by careful planning and relentless effort, we can transform even the most formidable challenges into victories.

We did not lick the power crisis overnight; we did it by laying the solution brick by brick. Neither did the Sick Man of Asia get out of the hospital through a miracle. We did it step by step—and by working, not talking. Thus must we also approach the challenge of transforming our barangays into effective units of Government administration.

Synergy of powers

In terms of law and policy support, I believe we already have a reforming institutional structure for this. Barangay councils enjoy today much larger powers and prerogatives they did not enjoy in the past. You have representation in municipal, provincial and national bodies. You are full-fledged agents of government, where, before, you were mere auxiliaries and supernumeraries in Government administration. No doubt, we can still improve upon your measure of authority. But let me tell you now—that can only come when our barangays fully prove themselves as the performing frontline troops of Government.

This you can do because in the deepest and truest sense, you are the ones in closest touch with our people. At your level, you see up close the problems of our communities. You know how Government programs work or do not work.

This unique point you must convert to your advantage. While you may not always be in a position to solve problems on your own, you can bring them to the attention of higher authorities—to your mayor, your governor, your representative, and the regional and provincial offices that represent the Presidency in your locality. It is upon this synergy of powers that effective administration depends. And you are the first in the chain. There is a tendency in our country to think that problems are only solved by money. This is not true. If that were true, we would have solved all our problems long ago. We would not have wasted hundreds of billions of pesos on projects that never resulted in change.

Money is important, yes. But effective management and the professionalism of people and people’s organizations matter even more. Effectiveness arises from each of us—local and national officials alike—doing his part and doing it well.

That said, let me say that I do understand your clamor for a greater share of resources so that you can prosecute more projects within your communities. To help you address the funding problems of the Liga, I have directed Budget and Management Secretary Salvador Enriquez to consider the possibility of automatically deducting from each barangay’s internal revenue allotment share the membership dues mandated by your constitution for remittance to the Liga chapters. In this way, the Liga chapters nationwide will have enough funds to carry out their day-to-day operations.

Full value for the taxpayer’s peso

Being a barangay official is a full-time job. I am aware that most of our barangay officials, particularly the barangay captains, render 24-hour service to their constituents. As such, your present honorarium may not be enough for your everyday needs. To provide for more livelihood opportunities for your constituents, we will undertake a thorough study of your proposed Barangay Savings and Loan Association.

But I must warn you that a scheme like this needs to be fool-proof against fraud. The overwhelming demand of our people today is full value for every peso of taxpayer’s money. We cannot have a repeat of the schemes that failed in the past.

At the end of the day, this becomes really a problem of trust, responsibility and leadership. I am confident that, today, we are steadily moving in this direction because Local Government units have become more involved in the tasks of administration and community development.

For the effective implementation of the Ramos Administration’s social and economic reform programs for our basic and marginalized sectors, I intend to make the barangays, through the Liga ng Mga Barangay, proactive participants in the formulation and implementation and monitoring of our social and economic reform agenda. Where possible, we shall give our barangays representation in the policymaking bodies.

An authentic agent of change

To help you in your infrastructure projects, I have instructed the chairman of the Public Estates Authority and the Secretary of the Interior and Local Government to identify sites where you can build, put up, lease or acquire your proposed National Barangay Center and other centers. Regarding our grassroots physical fitness and sports development program, show me the barangay playing field that I asked you to put in place before we can talk at all about any sports center.

Finally, to secure a solid educational foundation for the children of all barangay officials, I have directed the Department of Education, Culture and Sports to prepare the rules and procedures that will carry out Section 393 (4) of the Local Government Code, which gives free tuition and matriculation fees to children of barangay officials attending State colleges and universities.

Let us all see in this period before us a time of opportunity for the barangay to rise as an authentic government agent of change in our country. Let us strive to make the barangay a pervasive force for people empowerment and national modernization. And let us strive to make it the powerful voice of every citizen throughout our land. We can do this together if I can count on you to focus your attention on the tasks at hand, as you can count on me to focus on mine as your President.

As leaders, it is our common duty to mold our people into one cohesive team with the common goal of actualizing our programs toward community development, nation building and global competitiveness.

We will attain our vision of “Philippines 2000″ only if you in our local communities will help to make it happen.