By ALDWIN QUITASOL
www.nordis.net

BAGUIO CITY — Baguio City Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan stated during his Weekly Ugnayang Panlungsod that the city government is planning to push through with the merging or the lessening of the 129 barangays of Baguio.

He said Baguio City acquired the number of its barangays before to get more funding from the National Government. He cited Manila City who have more than 800 barangays.

According to Domogan, when there was still no Local Government Code (LGC) or Republic Act 7160 and the funds of Baguio City as well as of the barangays are being appropriated by the Malacañang. He explained that at the time cities or towns with more barangays get more funding from the national government. He said for example if each barangay is allocated P2,000 and if a City had only 5, then that city will only be given P10,000.

He explained further that local officials then created more barangays even if the areas are not qualified. “Isunga adda dagidiay luglugar nga uray limlima laeng ti balay idiay, naiproklaman a barangay tapno ad-adu ti ipresentar da idiay National Government,” (So there are areas that had only five house holds but were proclaimed as barangays in order to have more to the national government) he continued.

He said that after the passage of RA 7160 in 1991 and funding of the barangays are now up to the city governments. He added that city officials are now having a hard time appropriating funds because of the large number of barangays. He also said that some of the barangays with lesser area and population are at the disadvantage. So to solve this he said, the number of Baguio’s barangays should be reduced.

On the other news, the mayor said that city officials will have a meeting to discuss the upgrading of the Real Property Tax of the city. He said that the current market value of real properties was not adjusted since 1996. He said further that there is a need for upgrading property tax as the city faces more expenses.

Domogan cited the garbage collection fees pegged at P20. He said that the City government is only collecting around P11 million while spending over a hundred million on waste management. He said he requested the presiding officer of the Sangguniang Panlungsod to tackle the matter in their regular session. # nordis.net