San Esteban, Ilocos Sur -- Minutes from the Vice Mayor

Ladies and gentlemen of this honorable Municipal Council,

            Almost a year ago from today, this August held its inaugural session. Since then, our journals show that his council enacted 45 regulatory ordinances, 11 appropriation ordinances, and 77 resolutions. it can be said that in terms of parliamentary procedures, this council is satisfactorily practicing and implementing the standards and guidelines set forth.

            Now entering our second year, it is time that we reflect and assess how the general public is judging our performance and reacting to the controversial ordinances which have become part of the law in this municipality. This is a process of legislative tracking and analysis. The question is: Have we produced quality legislation?

            In my honest opinion, you did a great job when it comes to enacting these legislations because you considered as supreme objective the promotion of the general welfare and the development of society and its people and not for a selected few. I admire you for coming out with measures that sometimes spell political suicide. We stood our ground and did not allow this body to be held hostage by threats.

            On the other hand, there exists negative reactions from the public that were topic of discussions during my immersion sorties or when ever I get invited to informal gatherings in the barangays. People give their opinions on the ordinances and the usual comment is: some are good, the others are not. In my observation, a few people approve them and a greater number nod their heads in disagreement. The pulong pulong sa mga barangay was also one of the venues where the approved ordinances were disseminated to the public and sad to say there were some barangays where it drew flak and worse ridicule. True to the dictum, the good things we plan for our people are sometimes unpopular.

            Faced with this challenge, we take pains to explain to them that these are for their own good, that we have to stick with it and follow the rule until such time that it can be amended or repealed which in our agreement is one year after its implementation. But the problem here is the ordinances' effectiveness cannot be achieved because the people are not willing to comply to its mandates and therefore the enacted measure has become a failure. This is a situation which I am concerned and wish to be addressed immediately.

            Remember when you used to call the attention of this body and remind us about the perennial and nasty comments thrown on us like;

1. We have a faulty information drive and nobody is aware of such ordinance;
2. We are laughingstock because we keep on enacting ordinances that are not being respected or followed, and
3. We keep on creating tax ordinances so we can demand a higher salary.

            Of course these statements are not true, therefore we hace to prove them wrong, prevent the exacerbation of such issues and take definite steps to counter it so that we will not hear deregatory comments in the future.

            Diagnosing the situation, you will agree with me that the root cause of the failure is we did not dig deeper and consider the peoples' sentiments and pulse on the issues. True, we summoned the Barangay Captain to attend the hearings because we expected that his ideas and suggestions reflect the sentiments of his constituents. But the information we got was his personal opinion on the matter because we did not allow him to go back and let him ask first his constituents their response if the proposed measure indeed addressed their needs. their problems and their aspirations.

            How do we remedy the situation then? We can confront this challenge and still come out with a win situation. Obviously, the best move is to shift strategies. Where the previous situation calls for the barangay council to adopt a municipal ordinace particularly if it affects them, now we will reverse the procedure and let the barangay council enact their own ordinances and submit this to us for our review and approval. This strategy even contains the elements of barangay empowerment. Each barangay council member will now be tasked to reach out to his remotest constituent and learn and get information as to how he can uplift that person's general way of life then translate it into a proposition.

            If in case the proposal emanates from any of our honorable colleagues in this municipal council then we will make use of our district representative or the chairman of the committee concerned, who will present the proposal during the barangay council session for their consideration. Then let the council members reach out to their respective constitutents and find out if they will appreciate the proposal or not. We now have an actively participating barangay council who will be our partners in creating legislations.

            This is a surefire method in order to achieve the requisites of effective legislation, to mention;

1. It is responsive to peoples needs;
2. There is now an adequate consultation mechanism;
3. It is successfully implemented because the people are complying with the contents of the approved ordinance.

            Now is the perfect time to start with this new procedure since the barangay elections have been conducted. The new council may compose of re-electionists or new faces, but still we have to familiarize them right here in ouw session hall. How to do it? Invite the new barangay councils, 2 batches at a time, and let them observe and orient them on how our session proceeds then give them pointers on how to crystallize a proposal from a mere idea up to its approval. The Municipal Local Government Officer may take from there and develop a continuing program that will educate the barangay council members regarding their duties and responsibilites.

            Ladies and Gentlemen of this august body, I now beg for your humble consideration to adopt the formula of barangay empowerment as a tool to create effective legislation. Let us give to the barangay council the responsibility of enacting ordinances that concerns their day to day activities. This body will still preserve its integrity and not be in any way become a lame duck legislature but instead will strive more to come out with relevant legislations of general concern. Let us mature in a positive way. I am aware that we are not judge individually but as a whole body since our actions or accomplishments are taken as one. I am sure that these efforts will be appreciated by the general public.

Thank you.

Respectfully,

Norman V. Mendoza
Vice Mayor
San Esteban, Ilocos Sur