No abolition of Brgy . Roxas Village ?

By Jeehan V. Fernandez

There has been an issue whether Brgy . Roxas Village , City Proper should be abolished or not.

However, it seems there is no chance for this barangay to be dissolved. The issue being raised is that the existence of said barangay is not allowed considering it has only 22 residents currently living there.

On the contrary, the Sangguniang Panlungsod on Wednesday approved a resolution for an Annual Budget and Annual Development Plan of 15 barangays in the city for 2005, including Brgy . Roxas Village with a fund amounting to P745 ,788.35 .

Meanwhile, City Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) officer Martin Delgado stressed that a local government unit maybe abolished when its income, population or land area has been irreversibly reduced to less than the minimum standards.

Quoting a City Legal Office report, Delgado pointed out that “in the case of Brgy . Roxas Village , it appears that its population is reduced to only 22 residents”. Likewise, he cited that “under the law, the required minimum population for a barangay in a highly urbanized city is 5,000 people”.     

Delgado added that there is substantial reason for the abolition of the barangay if there is only such number of people residing in the area, but this should be attested by the National Statistics Office (NSO).

“Further, the authority to abolish a barangay is within the power of the SP,” Delgado said adding that “no abolition would take effect unless approved by a majority of votes cast in a plebiscite to be conducted by the Comelec in the political unit directly affected”.   

To note, complainant Romeo Diño , former barangay captain of Roxas Village , asked the SP to act on a recommendation of a former city election officer for the abolition of the said barangay.

City's Commission on Elections ( Comelec ) officer Atty. Daisy Real in a letter to the Mayor through the SP, stated that by allowing the existence of the barangay, the city “continually tolerates giving the officials the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) and allowances when there are no services rendered as there are no residents to cater to.”

Real had recommended “the abolition of said barangay on the basis that the number of inhabitants residing therein is no longer viable in order to maintain one whole barangay.”

The Comelec officer added “the said land area and its remaining registered and actual residents, should be made form and part of an adjacent barangay.”

The area where the barangay is situated is now being occupied by a shopping mall and that former squatter residents had been relocated or transferred to other residences, Real said.

During the May election, Comelec records indicated that Roxas Village had 99 new registrants and 63 validators, giving the barangay a total of 223 registered voters, which manifested a violation on registration of voters.

The City Council had referred the complaint to the Committee on Barangay Affairs for recommendation.