DILG closely monitoring 42,036 barangays on BADACs
Published May 3, 2018 09:08 am
By Chito Chavez
The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) will intensify the monitoring of the country’s 42,036 barangays to ensure that they have functional Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Councils (BADACs).
DILG officer-in-charge (OIC) Eduardo M. Año
(AP Photo/Bullit Marquez / MANILA BULLETIN) This warning came in the heels of the filing of administrative charges against 16 barangays in the National Capital Regional (NCR) and Bicol Region before the Office of the Ombudsman for their failure to organize their Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Councils (BADACs). DILG officer-in-charge (OIC) Eduardo M. Año said DILG’s monitoring of compliance of barangays in organizing BADACs is just the first step in the process since the department will further monitor the functionality of the organized BADACs. “When we say functional, it means that the concerned local government units (LGUs) have allocated substantial budget for the anti-drug campaign like community-based rehabilitation program," Año said. He said that barangays must have also submitted BADAC action plans to the concerned DILG offices and must have implemented the programs, projects, or activities listed in their action plan. The DILG chief explained that functional BADACs are those that have significantly decreased the number of drug affectations in their barangays as validated by the PDEA. Of the 16 barangays where administrative cases were recently filed, five are in NCR, all in the City of Manila, which are Barangays 471, 477, 482, 659-A, and 690. The DILG chief said 11 of them are in Bicol, 10 in the town of Aroroy, Masbate, and one in Gubat, Sorsogon. In Aroroy, Masbate, the barangays with no organized BADACS are Bagauma, Balawing, Gumahang, Lanang, Macabug, Manamoc, Mariposa, Nabongsoran, San Isidro, and Talabaan. In Sorsogon province, Barangay Cota na Dado (Poblacion) in the town of Gubat is also confirmed to have no organized BADAC. The 16 barangay officials will be given the chance to defend themselves and undergo due process. "Public office is a public trust. They are not private citizens. They are accountable and the public has the right to know if these tasks are delivered by them," he said. He warned that the filing of cases against barangay officials of the 16 barangays with unorganized BADACs is just the first in a series of cases to be filed by the DILG. “This is only the first batch because we are still in the process of culling all the reports from our regional and field offices and there are still over 600 barangays with no reports on their BADACs," he added.. The DILG chief said that the department’s filing of charges against barangays with no BADACs is meant “to send a strong message to the barangays on their important role in the anti-illegal drug campaign; more so that the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections are just two weeks away.” “Voters should be wise enough not to vote for incumbents who failed to act on the anti-illegal drugs issues in their respective communities," he pointed out. He said that among the criteria for a "matino" (decent) candidate is "lumaban at lumalaban sa iligal na droga" (has fought and is fighting against illegal drugs). “We need barangay officials who support the government's agenda of change. Let the change begin at the barangay level," he stressed. Mayors and governors next The Anti-Drug Abuse Councils (ADACs) of higher LGUs like provinces, cities and municipalities are next in line as the DILG is now closely working with the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) to ensure the creation and functionality of the higher ADACs. “And we will also not hesitate to file charges against mayors and governors who are proven to have unorganized ADACs as well," he said. According to DILG Memorandum Circular 2015-63 dated June 16, 2015, a BADAC is to be headed by a barangay chairperson while the vice-chair is a sangguniang barangay member or kagawad who is the chair of the barangay committee on peace and order. Members of a BADAC include the kagawad who chairs the barangay committee on women and family, SK chairperson, school principal (public) or representative, tanod chief or executive officer, representative of a non-government organization, representative of a faith-based organization such as from the Ugnayan ng Barangay at mga Simbahan (UBAS).
DILG officer-in-charge (OIC) Eduardo M. Año(AP Photo/Bullit Marquez / MANILA BULLETIN) This warning came in the heels of the filing of administrative charges against 16 barangays in the National Capital Regional (NCR) and Bicol Region before the Office of the Ombudsman for their failure to organize their Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Councils (BADACs). DILG officer-in-charge (OIC) Eduardo M. Año said DILG’s monitoring of compliance of barangays in organizing BADACs is just the first step in the process since the department will further monitor the functionality of the organized BADACs. “When we say functional, it means that the concerned local government units (LGUs) have allocated substantial budget for the anti-drug campaign like community-based rehabilitation program," Año said. He said that barangays must have also submitted BADAC action plans to the concerned DILG offices and must have implemented the programs, projects, or activities listed in their action plan. The DILG chief explained that functional BADACs are those that have significantly decreased the number of drug affectations in their barangays as validated by the PDEA. Of the 16 barangays where administrative cases were recently filed, five are in NCR, all in the City of Manila, which are Barangays 471, 477, 482, 659-A, and 690. The DILG chief said 11 of them are in Bicol, 10 in the town of Aroroy, Masbate, and one in Gubat, Sorsogon. In Aroroy, Masbate, the barangays with no organized BADACS are Bagauma, Balawing, Gumahang, Lanang, Macabug, Manamoc, Mariposa, Nabongsoran, San Isidro, and Talabaan. In Sorsogon province, Barangay Cota na Dado (Poblacion) in the town of Gubat is also confirmed to have no organized BADAC. The 16 barangay officials will be given the chance to defend themselves and undergo due process. "Public office is a public trust. They are not private citizens. They are accountable and the public has the right to know if these tasks are delivered by them," he said. He warned that the filing of cases against barangay officials of the 16 barangays with unorganized BADACs is just the first in a series of cases to be filed by the DILG. “This is only the first batch because we are still in the process of culling all the reports from our regional and field offices and there are still over 600 barangays with no reports on their BADACs," he added.. The DILG chief said that the department’s filing of charges against barangays with no BADACs is meant “to send a strong message to the barangays on their important role in the anti-illegal drug campaign; more so that the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections are just two weeks away.” “Voters should be wise enough not to vote for incumbents who failed to act on the anti-illegal drugs issues in their respective communities," he pointed out. He said that among the criteria for a "matino" (decent) candidate is "lumaban at lumalaban sa iligal na droga" (has fought and is fighting against illegal drugs). “We need barangay officials who support the government's agenda of change. Let the change begin at the barangay level," he stressed. Mayors and governors next The Anti-Drug Abuse Councils (ADACs) of higher LGUs like provinces, cities and municipalities are next in line as the DILG is now closely working with the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) to ensure the creation and functionality of the higher ADACs. “And we will also not hesitate to file charges against mayors and governors who are proven to have unorganized ADACs as well," he said. According to DILG Memorandum Circular 2015-63 dated June 16, 2015, a BADAC is to be headed by a barangay chairperson while the vice-chair is a sangguniang barangay member or kagawad who is the chair of the barangay committee on peace and order. Members of a BADAC include the kagawad who chairs the barangay committee on women and family, SK chairperson, school principal (public) or representative, tanod chief or executive officer, representative of a non-government organization, representative of a faith-based organization such as from the Ugnayan ng Barangay at mga Simbahan (UBAS).