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DILG backs proposal limiting barangay population to 15,000
A House bill seeking to limit the population of barangays to 15,000 gets the support of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said Sunday.
Interviewed on Dobol B sa News TV, Malaya pointed out that services can be delivered easily to barangays with manageable number of residents.
He was referring to House Bill 6686 filed earlier by Representative Robert Ace Barbers
of Surigao del Norte (2nd District), which seeks to amend Section 386 of Republic Act No. 7160 or The Local Government Code of 1991.“Sa tingin po namin mukhang maganda naman po ang proposal ni Rep. Barbers. Napansin nga po natin hindi po pantay-pantay ang mga barangay,” Malaya said.
“Panahon na para pag-aralan natin ‘yung size ng barangay as proposed by Congressman Barbers,” he added.
Moreover, he said some barangays, like Barangay Silang in Caloocan with huge population, need to be split into different barangays, while some like in Manila need to be merged.
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“Actually matrabaho, hindi naman po ito biglaan. Long-term ito. Ang barangay po kasi ang pinakamababang lebel ng gobyerno sa 'ting mga kababayan,” Malaya pointed out.
But the challenge in implementing this proposed change, Malaya stressed, is the political establishment.
According to Malaya, there is a proposal to merge some barangays with small population in Manila. It has failed to proceed due to political implications of the merger.
“May mawawalan ng trabaho,” he pointed out.
In the face of the coronavirus disease 2019 crisis, DILG Secretary Eduardo Año extended the deadline for the distribution of the emergency cash aid as some local government units with huge population cannot keep up.
House Bill 06686 was filed on Tuesday and still pending with the committee on local government. —Joviland Rita/LBG, GMA News