Senator Sonny Angara vowed to pursue legislation that would make barangay officials as regular state employees who are entitled to fixed salaries and benefits in recognition of their role as frontliners of government service.
He said it is time to recognize and to give importance to the services of barangay by giving them enough and appropriate salaries and not just honorarium.
Angara is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Local Government and author of Senate Bill No. 2097, or the proposed Magna Carta for Barangays.
“If it is right for public servants to receive just compensation from the government, so are barangay officials,” Angara pointed out. “They are at the forefront of government service and they serve the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
Under the Local Government Code, barangay officials should only receive honorariums and not salaries. At present, a barangay chairman gets an honorarium of at least P1,000 per month while the councilors, treasurer and secretary each receive P600 monthly.
In the bill that he filed, Angara proposed that the Punong Barangay receive an amount equivalent to the salary of a Sangguniang Bayan member of his municipality.
He also wants each of the six barangay kagawad be given an amount equivalent to 80 percent of the Sangguniang Bayan member’s salary, while the kabataang barangay chairman and barangay secretary and treasurer, equivalent to 75 percent.
Aside from fixed salaries, Angara also wants barangay officials to get regular allowances, insurance, medical and dental coverage, retirement benefits and such other fringe benefits extended to permanent government workers.
The proposed Magna Carta for Barangays intends to help barangays perform their mandate of delivering basic services and facilities to their respective communities in the “most efficient, responsive and sustainable manner.”
To promote the welfare of the barangays, Angara said the bill aims to provide communities with appropriate basic services and facilities such as regular supply of clean and potable water, public transportation, schools, health centers, and barangay halls in order to meet the requirements of their local populace.
The bill also outlines measures that will help ensure barangays enjoy genuine and meaningful local autonomy and attain full development, namely: Automatic release of their share from national taxes; transfer of funds for maintenance of roads and bridges; mandatory share of barangay taxes, fees, and other charges; and priority in employment.