Loose Change by Ben Kritz I found the results of the Sentinel Times’ poll about the proposal to increase salaries and benefits for barang...
Loose Change
by Ben Kritz
I found the results of the Sentinel Times’ poll about the proposal to increase salaries and benefits for barangay officials interesting, but not particularly surprising. The poll followed a suggestion made by a councilor in Lucena City that the city adopt a resolution supporting a bill introduced in Congress last September (RA 6033, or the Barangay Officials Salary and Benefits Act) that would increase compensation for barangay chairmen, councilors, secretaries, and treasurers, and provide them regular benefits such as GSIS, PhilHealth, and Pag-IBIG fund enrollment.
About two-thirds of the people who responded to the poll were not in favor of increasing the pay of barangay officials, and that, it seems, is a normal reaction to any such measure, whether in this country or elsewhere; I cannot recall any time a similar proposal didn’t meet with a strongly negative public response anywhere I have lived for any length of time. We don’t like the idea of our elected officials earning high salaries at our expense. Most of us consider public service as something that ought to require some material sacrifice, and the visibly obvious fact that many of them live much better than we do is frankly offensive.
I generally feel the same way most other people; while I recognize that an elective office is an actual job that the person doing it should be paid to do, that pay should only be fair – both to the officeholder and especially to the taxpayers who provide the salary – and no more. I think in the case of barangay officials, however, the current level of compensation is not fair, and ought to be increased.
I suspect that most people probably take barangay officials for granted, but the barangay system is actually an admirable and unique form of government that is not found in many other countries; in most places in the world, having virtually on-demand personal access to government officials who can actually accomplish something is unheard of. From observing and getting to know the barangay leaders in the various places I’ve lived in the Philippines, my impression is that it is a job that places heavy demands on a person, and under stressful circumstances, more often than not – resolving neighborhood disputes, attending to families who have had some kind of emergency, helping constituents deal with other levels of government.
Expectations are very high; when a citizen takes a matter to the barangay, he assumes – and understandably so – that it will be satisfactorily addressed. It’s a tough job, if the barangay official is doing it right. And if people expect barangay officials to focus fully on it, then those officials ought to be paid enough to do so.
Improving the compensation of barangay officials – at least the ones who do most of the work, the barangay captain, secretary, and treasurer – prevents them from being distracted by other work or business, or the temptation of corruption. At the same time, higher pay imposes higher standards of performance, just as in any other job, which ensures the people are getting a fair value in service for what they’re paying with their taxes.
Unlike most other proposals to raise elected officials’ salaries, the proposal to increase compensation for barangay officials is justifiable, especially given their unique position as the personal interface between citizens and their government. People ought to consider supporting it.
Ben Kritz holds a Master’s degree in Economics and is a former auto industry executive, and writes the thrice-weekly Rough Trade column on business and the economy for The Manila Times. You are welcome to send him your questions and comments at benkritz@outlook.com, or follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
I found the results of the Sentinel Times’ poll about the proposal to increase salaries and benefits for barangay officials interesting, but not particularly surprising. The poll followed a suggestion made by a councilor in Lucena City that the city adopt a resolution supporting a bill introduced in Congress last September (RA 6033, or the Barangay Officials Salary and Benefits Act) that would increase compensation for barangay chairmen, councilors, secretaries, and treasurers, and provide them regular benefits such as GSIS, PhilHealth, and Pag-IBIG fund enrollment.
About two-thirds of the people who responded to the poll were not in favor of increasing the pay of barangay officials, and that, it seems, is a normal reaction to any such measure, whether in this country or elsewhere; I cannot recall any time a similar proposal didn’t meet with a strongly negative public response anywhere I have lived for any length of time. We don’t like the idea of our elected officials earning high salaries at our expense. Most of us consider public service as something that ought to require some material sacrifice, and the visibly obvious fact that many of them live much better than we do is frankly offensive.
I generally feel the same way most other people; while I recognize that an elective office is an actual job that the person doing it should be paid to do, that pay should only be fair – both to the officeholder and especially to the taxpayers who provide the salary – and no more. I think in the case of barangay officials, however, the current level of compensation is not fair, and ought to be increased.
I suspect that most people probably take barangay officials for granted, but the barangay system is actually an admirable and unique form of government that is not found in many other countries; in most places in the world, having virtually on-demand personal access to government officials who can actually accomplish something is unheard of. From observing and getting to know the barangay leaders in the various places I’ve lived in the Philippines, my impression is that it is a job that places heavy demands on a person, and under stressful circumstances, more often than not – resolving neighborhood disputes, attending to families who have had some kind of emergency, helping constituents deal with other levels of government.
Expectations are very high; when a citizen takes a matter to the barangay, he assumes – and understandably so – that it will be satisfactorily addressed. It’s a tough job, if the barangay official is doing it right. And if people expect barangay officials to focus fully on it, then those officials ought to be paid enough to do so.
Improving the compensation of barangay officials – at least the ones who do most of the work, the barangay captain, secretary, and treasurer – prevents them from being distracted by other work or business, or the temptation of corruption. At the same time, higher pay imposes higher standards of performance, just as in any other job, which ensures the people are getting a fair value in service for what they’re paying with their taxes.
Unlike most other proposals to raise elected officials’ salaries, the proposal to increase compensation for barangay officials is justifiable, especially given their unique position as the personal interface between citizens and their government. People ought to consider supporting it.
Ben Kritz holds a Master’s degree in Economics and is a former auto industry executive, and writes the thrice-weekly Rough Trade column on business and the economy for The Manila Times. You are welcome to send him your questions and comments at benkritz@outlook.com, or follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
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