DILG to Ask Congress to Provide More Funds for Barangay Officials Benefits

August 9, 2009

The Department of the Interior and Local Government is set to ask Congress to allocate more funds for the benefits due barangay officials, such as the payment of their premiums under the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), DILG Secretary Ronnie Puno has said.

Puno said the DILG is now issuing new identification cards to barangay officials nationwide to prepare for, and facilitate, among others, the grant of benefits that have been approved by the national government, along with the free college education for their children and other benefits under Republic Act No. 7160 or the Local Government Code.

“We will lobby Congress to set aside funds in the national budget to bankroll the benefits that are due barangay officials as provided for in RA 7160,” said Puno in a series of forums hosted by different Liga ng mga Barangay chapters nationwide.

He said that in partial compliance with the provisions of the Local Government Code, the government has so far been providing death and burial benefits to barangay officials.

The DILG, based on Executive Order 115 issued by President Arroyo, has been providing death benefits of P20,000 each for  families of members of the Sangguniang Barangay who die during their incumbency, while families of  barangay treasurers and barangay secretaries are given P10,000 each, he said.

Burial benefits of P2,000 each are also provided to beneficiaries of  deceased barangay officials,  Puno said.

Recently, Puno unveiled a health insurance package  that will benefit over 1.2 million barangay officials and their families under a project jointly implemented by the DILG and the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) with local government executives.

The project, which  covers a total of 31,920 barangays with Internal Revenue Allotments (IRA) of less than P1 million each, is being implemented through a  Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) sealed by the DILG and  PhilHealth  with the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP), League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP), League of Municipalities of the Philippines LMP) and the National Liga ng mga Barangay (NLB).

“Although all these benefits help, we know that these are not enough to repay the services that our barangay officials provide our communities,” Puno said during the first DILG teleconference held recently with participants from Cavite in  the Liga ng mga Barangay Congress held in Baguio City.  “That is why we will lobby our congressmen, many of whom are my friends, to provide the funds for the implementation of the benefits due our barangay officials.”

A former congressman representing the first district of Antipolo, Puno said that among these benefits are the payment of GSIS premiums of barangay officials through the Barangay Office Insurance  Premium Fund (BOIPF), which was implemented during his first term as DILG Secretary in 1999 to 2000.

Puno said he learned that the BOIPF was no longer being implemented by the Department when he returned to his post in 2006, but was instead replaced by a new program providing for an increase in insurance benefits for local government executives, but which, unfortunately, excluded barangay officials.  

On top of seeking funding support from Congress,  Puno said he has also called on Chairman Emmanuel Angeles of the Commission on Higher Education to ensure that children of incumbent barangay officials are given free education in the country’s State Universities and Colleges (SUCs), as mandated under the Local Government Code. 

In response to Puno’s call, Angeles has issued CHED Memorandum Circular No. 15 last May reminding SUCs to comply with the provision of the Local Government Code on the grant of  free tuition to children of incumbent barangay officials.

Moreover, the DILG has also launched the police auxiliary program, as provided under Executive Order No. 546, which allows the Philippine National Police to deputize barangay tanods as force multipliers in carrying out its peace and order initiatives.

Under the law, barangay officials are also entitled to free medical care in government hospitals or, in the absence of a nearby government facility, emergency treatment in any medical facility, chargeable to the funds of the barangay.
 
They are also entitled to hospital benefits, depending on the length of hospitalization, or a cash benefit if no hospitalization is required but medical attention is necessary.

But barangay officials have not been able to avail of most of these benefits owing to budgetary constraints.