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Monday, March 10, 2003
Editorial: Barangay power
Ronnie Sab-a remembers that it was in the late 90s, after he took a breather from working at a karaoke joint, when he noticed that Barangay Luz had more than the usual concentration of gays.
Estimating that they were more than a hundred-strong, Sab-a observed that many of his fellow gays “needed to be guided” since they were idle or involved in unproductive activities and vices. He also wanted an end to the local machos’ taunting and harassment.
The fruition of these desires occurred when the Self-Motivated Gays Association of Barangay Luz (Semgab), headed by Sab-a, joined 150 sectoral representatives who took part in the barangay’s first participatory planning session last Feb. 24-March 2.
Barrio Luz became the third barangay, after Cansaga in Consolacion and Ermita in Cebu City, to link with the Center for Participatory Governance (Cpag), a Cebu-based NGO, in coming up with their barangay development plan (BDP).
Unlike the traditional wish list renewing political debts, the participatory plan attempts to break the deadlock of irrelevant projects and unmet needs. Barangay Luz Councilor Nida Cabrera observed that, during her nine years of service, residents questioned those programs which ostensibly was for their benefit but which did not address their needs.
She said that, except for the lone opposition councilor who perceived the community planning exercise as politicking, the Barangay Council agreed to a 70-30 counterparting scheme with Cpag for the conduct of the weeklong activities.
Cpag executive director Alvin Dizon said this was unprecedented, and not only because the usual arrangements involve a 50-50 sharing. Other barangay officials turned defensive when Cpag proposed a process that would encroach on their traditional unilateral setting of the barangay agenda.
Cpag project officer Ruth Restauro observed that broadening and intensifying participation was possible when both barangay officials and people’s organizations were politically mature. In Barangay Luz’s case, Cabrera pointed out that the lot acquisition issue in the late 80s was critical in organizing the people. Today, its 20 homeowners associations have formed the Confederation of Barangay Luz Homeowners Association, whose cooperative is a member of the Local Development Council.
Although secure now in their tenure, the homeowners’ next concern is to improve their quality of life. This is Cabrera’s explanation for the unflagging interest and commitment shown by the 150 participants, representing 14,000 residents distributed in 16 sitios, who showed up for seven nights, brainstorming and discussing until dawn.
This may seem nightmarish to leaders addicted to checkbook governance. But the process guaranteed that Barangay Luz’s five-year BDP was based on a clear-eyed assessment of the current situation and the people’s resolution to move for changes.
During the cross-sectoral validation that preceded visioning and planning, there was, for instance, an unsparing detailing of the extent of illegal activities, from the many forms of gambling to drugs and immorality. But some women also pointed out a rarely perceived side of prostitution: it provides a livelihood for sex workers who must have alternative work if their families are to survive.
Not only were the views of minority groups like gays and sex workers acknowledged in the communal planning, misconceptions and inaccuracies were corrected. Sitio Mabuhay residents belied the official record that there was only one suyopanan (shabu den) in their area, stating that there were actually three. A plan is only as effective as the realities it represents.
For Barangay Luz, the work of producing its BDP is over, but the real labor has yet to begin. If anything, governance requires patience.
But if it takes 37 signatures to wring one cotton ball from government funds, barangays going through the 14 steps required in participatory planning are assured that, at the end, they will have more than a ball of fluff in their collective hands.
(March 10, 2003 issue)
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