Barangay Good Governance Index

For my XUCLA internship, I am assigned at the Xavier University Governance and Leadership Institute headed by the multi-awarded former mayor of Opol Dr. Dixon Yasay. I am glad to be assigned in this unit since it is in line with my interests and background. In a nutshell, this unit provides trainings and other capacity building activities for Local Government Units here in Mindanao. The opportunity appeals to my curiosity on the basics of local governance and most importantly brings me closer to actual community leaders.

In one of our work, we assisted in facilitating a seminar entitled “Barangay Good Governance Index”. This is a series of seminar-workshops which aims to strengthen the knowledge base and approaches of local governments on areas such as health, peace and order among others. The most singular and powerful idea that the speaker keeps on emphasizing is that the Barangay’s power should focus primarily not on infrastructure but ON THE CHANGE OF BEHAVIOR of the people. In an instant, the whole scheme of government for me made sense. Everyone knows that the unique government unit we call Barangay is the first level of government, the closest to the people but not everyone understands that its main purpose is to harness that intimacy by changing societal behaviours. You may ask how societal behaviours change. Many factors affect these changes but one that the Barangay themselves can set and control is a Barangay ordinance which has the effect of law in its jurisdiction.

For us law students, this is a gold mine of opportunity to engage in a more relevant setting. We can use our basic knowledge in articulating the most basic of laws and help craft sound policies that will eventually spur a change in behaviour if implemented and evaluated earnestly. This in itself requires political will where we can help cement by providing sound legal support.

This experience made me see more the relevance of engaging local governance in the most basic level. Considering that most of us these days are callous to the national and even local political situation, one area we can experience with our own senses every single day as we get out of our houses is the state of affairs in our own communities or Barangays. This is the immediate area within our sphere of control and influence. So a positive or negative change that touches our senses happens in this level more often than not. Furthermore, understanding that an integral element of good governance is inclusivity, we citizens should also make it a point to include ourselves in the political process.

It is human nature to demand some improvements in the situation around us. The law through the local government provides channels such as the Barangay Assembly for this demand to legitimately be forwarded to the proper authorities. Don’t hold this as a mere utopian hope. These channels provided for by the law has made several inspiring stories all around the nation. They are stories that showed how people made it a point to empower themselves and their government in the most basic level where we can all relate to.