MANILA – About 10 years ago, a “barangay” (village) in a town in Zamboanga Sibugay province in Mindanao wallowed in poverty, saddled with the problem of rampant criminality and a refuge for people fleeing from neighboring communities due to the threats posed by marauding Abu Sayyaf militants.
At that time, local officials and even the residents themselves appeared to have accepted their lot in Barangay Sanito in the town of Ipil and destined to fall further into poverty as did the other communities similarly situated in other parts of the country.
Ipil itself was the scene of tragedy and destruction when heavily-armed Abu Sayyaf members raided the town and went on a looting and killing spree, aside from setting fire to homes and commercial establishments in the mid-1990s.
But in an act of faith as well as sheer determination and willpower, the 8,000 residents of Sanito decided improve their lives and their community through self-help and cooperation.
The result is that in just four years, Sanito has dramatically transformed itself into a community that has become a model in good governance at the grassroots and worthy of emulation elsewhere in the Philippines.
Such achievement has not been lost on the “Gawad Galing Pook,” a non-government foundation which recognizes outstanding local government projects in the country. and which decided to honor Sanito as one of the 10 awardees for 2008.
With the award, Sanito and the other winners will each get cash grants equivalent to more than $2,000 from the Department of Interior and Local Government in ceremonies scheduled in Malacanang.
In particular, the Gawad Galing cited Sanito for crafting a Barangay Government Code which mandated fees for basic services, like water and public works, as well as for permit fees.
The same code also penalized vagrancy and improved garbage disposal, which led Eddie Dorotan, the executive director of the foundation, to observe:
“The barangay code made pro-active citizens out of the residents. It specified its own sources of income and from that, it was able to finance many projects, unlike other barangays which, most of the time, depend on their municipal or provincial governments.”
Dorotan elaborated that in choosing the annual winners, the foundation looks for five main characteristics in a project: It should have a positive impact on the community and its people; it has a participatory mechanism to make stakeholders involved, it is sustainable; it is efficient in delivering services; and it is innovative, providing new examples of answering problems.
He disclosed that Barangay Sanito was chosen as one of the annual winners, from the total of 138 which were submitted for consideration and whose number was later reduced to 19 and then the final 10.
Two other community projects undertaken in Mindanao were also adjudged the Galing Pook winners, along with Sanito, Dorotan said.
One of them is the Allah Valley Landscape Development Alliance, which brings together two governors, eight mayors and several other government officials who are faced with an average annual loss of $10,000 from rice lands damaged by floods and soil erosion.
The project institutionalized sound watershed management programs in the river between the provinces of South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat.
The other Mindanao winner, Dorotan said, is the Children First Program of Cotabato province which seeks to “promote friendship” among young Muslims and Christians.
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