The Liga ng mga Barangay sa Pilipinas is behind vice presidential candidate Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte "1,001 percent".
This was the bold declaration of Liga President Eden Chua Pineda, who hosted Duterte during the group's 3rd general membership assembly Saturday, March 5 at the SMX Convention in Pasay City.
"We are grateful and thankful na binigyan po tayo ng pagkakataon at panahon para magkaisa po tayo dito (that she gave us an opportunity as well as her time to be with us here)...Rest assured, our 1,001 full support sa kandidatura niya (is with your candidacy)," Pineda said.
"We are always here, behind you, supporting you, because we know for a fact na 'yung puso mo ay nasa barangay (that your heart is with the barangay)," the Liga official added of Duterte.
In her speech at the event, the presidential daughter paid tribute to the unselfish and "buwis-buhay" efforts of barangay workers in the country all throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. She said that government officials from mayors up to the governors heavily depended on barangay workers to enforce protocols and response mechanism during the health crisis.
"While we continue to face the challenges that this current pandemic has brought to our respective localities, we recognize the importance of our barangays as one of the primary implementing units in ensuring the continuity of effective service delivery of our government to our communities," Duterte said.
"I am very proud to say sa aming mga barangay captains doon sa Davao City na kahit po limitado ang resources, kahit po kulang ang budget ay gumalaw parin sila at ginawa nila ang lahat ng puwede nilang gawin para tumulong sa Covid-19 response ng aming siyudad (that our barangay captains in Davao City, even if they lacked the resources and budget, they still gave their all in helping our city respond to Covid-19).
"And I would assume na ganyan din sa buong Pilipinas (that was the case for the entire country)," Duterte further said.
The Liga ng mga Barangay sa Pilipinas or League of Barangays in the Philippines and the Asosasyon ng mga Kapitan ng Barangay (Association of Barangay Captains) or ABC are formal organizations of all the barangays in the Philippines. Presently, almost 42,000 barangays are part of this organization, making it the largest association of Philippine local government units (LGUs).
The barangay is the smallest unit of government in the country.