BALANGA CITY, Bataan -This is the incentive and challenge posed by Congressman Joet Garcia of the 2nd district of the province to all newly elected barangay officials of the municipalities of Mariveles, Bagac and Orion during the mass oathtaking held the other day at the Emiliana Hall, this City
In the presence of Congressman Joet Garcia together with Gov. Abet Garcia, Vice Governor Cris Garcia, Mayor Ace Jello Concepcion of Mariveles, Mayor Louise Gabriel del Rosario of Bagac, OIC- Mayor Isidro of Orion and DILG Provincial Director Myra Soriano, more than 300 barangay officials took their Oath of Office before Gov. Abet Garcia.
In his message, Cong. Joet Garcia emphasized to the newly elected officials particularly the neophytes, to know the real situation of their barangay, “dapat alam natin ang katayuan ng ating paglilingkuran, tingnan natin ang totoong prayoridad na pangangailangan ng ating mga kabarangay, ayos ba ang daan, may covered court na ba, may potable water ba sa mga tahanan”?
Congressman Garcia also explained that the old practice of simply submitting barangay resolutions to request funding for a certain project is no longer the standard procedure. It is now done through the submission of a barangay master plan where all the priority projects of the barangay are included; hence the task of the representative is to look for funding while it is the responsibility of the barangay officials to study the needs of their respective barangays and submit their master plans.
Further, said master plans need to be submitted in time for the budget hearing because all projects included in the master plan and approved this year will be implemented next year; thus the first 40 barangays to submit their master plans on time will not only have their budget but will also have a service van, an L-300 van for their barangay use.
Meanwhile, Gov. Abet Garcia not only reminded all officials on the goal of 1Bataan for the progress of their barangays, their municipalities and the province as a whole but also stressed that since the term of office of all barangay officials is only two (2) years, it is thru this master plan that they can show their constituents the impact of their accomplishments despite the very short term of office.