Events: Barangay Workers Are Organized
Government workers in the barangays like Barangay Health Workers (BHW), Barangay
Nutrition Scholars (BNS), Barangay Tanod (BT), Day Care Workers, and others who
comprise the 1sang Damayan ng mga Social Workers na Dakila (IDSWD), is being
organized in the whole province. It aims to raise to a higher level the
organizational unity and cooperation of the barangay workers in the province.
It is a known fact that the barangay workers are frontliners in the delivery of
basic services to the people. Without these workers, our government will be
ineffective in implementing its programs and projects especially the delivery of
basic services to the poorest of the poor.
However, they are also the most unattended government service providers in terms
of economic benefits. They don’t have a standardized rate of compensation. It
all depends on the Internal Reveue Allotment (IRA) that a particular barangay
receives. The smaller the IRA the smaller the compensation the barangay workers
receive.
Another major issue that the barangay workers want corrected is their security
of tenure. A barangay captain can just easily fire them even if there is no
justifiable reason. According to a barangay captain, barangay workers are hired
based on trust and confidence and not on the merits of their qualifications and
capacity.
With this premise, 1DSWD is formed to consolidate the barangay workers in the
province and bring their one voice to proper agencies for the upliftment of
their basic economic rights and welfare. It has already set-up its chapters in
15 municipalities and cities of the province. They intend to reach all 32 towns
and cities of the province of Negros Occidental by the end of April this year.*
(Edith Colmo)
