INCREASE IN BARANGAY AID: A LEAP TOWARDS LOCAL AUTONOMY

The passage of Ordinance No. 04 Series of 2006 granting an Annual Development Budgetary Aid to all the Barangay Governments of Vigan to at least One Hundred Thousand Pesos ( P 100,000.00 ) per Barangay is a breakthrough for local autonomy. This paves the way for the institutionalization of a reasonable amount which can be used for the different programs and projects of the barangays. Under the Local Government Code, barangays are entitled to at least One Thousand Pesos ( P 1,000.00 ) as development aid coming from the City or Municipal Government.

The increase is indeed a welcome development for the thirty-nine (39) barangays of Vigan which heavily rely on the yearly IRA (Internal Revenue Allotment) for their operations. To ensure that the increase in Barangay Aid be properly used to benefit the constituents of a barangay, the ordinance mandates that the aid shall be used only for development projects as identified and in accordance with the approved Barangay Development Plan.

Further, proposed projects shall be accompanied by a feasibility study and/or project proposal and the beneficiaries of said projects shall be residents of Vigan. A development project may nonetheless be allowed even in excess of One Hundred Thousand (P 100,000.00) Pesos provided that it can be justified that the same is laudable and necessary, and provided further that it has been reviewed and approved by the Local Chief Executive of the City.

I hope that this shall serve as inspiration to the barangays to work harder for development.

Market Economy Seminar

November 13, 2006(Monday)
Mr. Siegfried Herzog, the new resident representative of FNF Philippines welcomed the participants of the Second Liberal Leadership Training Seminar at the Asian Institute of Management Conference Center in Makati by introducing the Friedrich Naumann Foundation and the fundamentals of Liberalism and the place of the free market in it. The foundation’s advocacy on political and civic education has gone beyond the boundaries of Germany, reaching the Philippines and the rest of the world.
The Market-Price Mechanism was ably discussed by Mr. Herzog, an economist who gave a simplified and clear explanation of the principles of supply and demand. Applying the supply and demand curves, participants were able to learn and appreciate the use of a graph to analyze the free market. The active involvement of participants led to discussions of determinants of demand and supply such as increase in income or increase in the number of sellers. Issues on government interventions such as subsidies and price fixing particularly its adverse effects were also raised.
In the afternoon, the participants were divided into four working groups to identify concerns and issues with the free market. The plenary resolved that the Philippines must be ready for globalization.
Economic Systems and Principles of Market Economy were also presented. In here, the participants learned the different ways on how an economy can be organized.
A video presentation entitled “Globalization is Good” capped Day 1.

Children's Month

Vice Mayor Franz Ranches with the Vigan Child Legislators during the celebration of the children's month