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Press Release

Congressman Arthur Yap of the Third District of Bohol filed a bill prescribing the honoraria or allowances of Barangay officials at minimum wage levels.

House Bill No. 3977 seeks to amend the Local Government Code, which was enacted 20 years ago and prescribes only a minimum monthly honoraria of P1,000 for Punong Barangay and P600 for other Barangay officials. The bill noted that by any regional standard, such amounts are way below the minimum wage levels.

“Unlike most public officials, Barangay officials perform not just full time, but “24-7” work. Work is not only 8 hours. There is no overtime pay, no nightshift differential, no holiday, and no rest day. Actually, work is not really full time, it is all the time.”, noted Yap, a former Agriculture Secretary.

The House Bill noted that the Barangay officials, headed by the Punong Barangay or Capitan are swamped with the work of 3 branches of government. The Capitan is the little president in charge maintaining order. The Sanggunian is the little Congress tasked with enacting ordinances to promote general welfare. The Katarungang Pambarangay members are the little judges and justices administering Barangay justice.

“The reason why the law provides only for honoraria and not salaries is that Barangay governance is not meant to be full time work. However, this is not the reality. With very heavy work load, almost all Barangay officials can no longer afford to take any other job or even have small enterprise. Thus, their source of income or livelihood is the measly honoraria or allowances they receive as Barangay officials.”, lamented the first term Congressman.

Yap earnestly asked for the early approval of this bill. He hopes that its approval would be a means of ameliorating the economic condition of Barangay officials. And, he concluded that it would only be then that these officials be properly compensated for their services to their constituencies.

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