Barangay Development Network of Rosario

By: Barriotikman

For purposes of community organizing and improving development management in the local communities, the Office for Sustainable Development headed by the Sustainable Development Action Officer (SDAO) from 1995-2005, implemented an issuance of the Sangguniang Bayan (Municipal Council) grouping the 48 barangays of the Municipality of Rosario, Batangas, Philippines into eight Barangay Clusters with 6 member barangays each cluster.

Map of Rosario Batangas Philippines

Innovation

Moving a step forward, the SDAO gave a geographic information data field for each one of these barangay clusters using the general compass direction of the cluster relative to the position of the Municipal Hall situated in the town proper.

Insights

Some observations may be useful at this point about giving these barangay clusters a name. The perceptible effects in terms of community organization are that they:

• acquired a basic identity distinct from the legal personality of the member barangay;
• created a sense of unity for the member barangays bonded by a common development agenda and a unique approach for its implementation;
• fostered a higher individuality able to interact much like that of a person to his neighbors in mutually beneficial endeavor beyond and above the level expected of a barangay;
• developed a team spirit that can establish interdependent relationships among the barangay clustes of the municipality without getting lost of the fact it is the individual barangay government units that makes up the cluster;
• provided a concrete experience on the power and influence of working together in perfect harmony to accomplish a definite purpose like human and ecological security, gender and development, poverty reduction initiatives, and other social development projects that require community participation.

Living Organism

The Municipality of Rosario, Batangas organized into barangay clusters gave birth to a living organism susceptible to reason and emotion at different levels.

At the head, the highest level of government organization, reason is more dominant compared to emotion that becomes more and more pronounced as you go down the heart of the local community, and down to the hands of barangay officials and local leaders, those who act to implement the plans and projects created at the top leadership of government.

It is at the grassroots level where ultimately, the goverment and the governed meet, the officials and the beneficiaries get into contact. Indeed, it requires great skills in handling the emotions and the mind-sets involved in the institutional arrangement complex that matters at this level .

Action

Our experience in this set up can only lead to some strong suggestions that devoting high level of emotional investment at the bottom, at the level of local communities :

• gives substance to the intagible desires and ideas created at the top;
• provides fuel to actions leading to accomplishment of goals and targets; and
• breaks barriers and challenges concomitant with any relationship involving two or more persons.

Network

The community development network design using the barangay cluster technique can be found in the Barangay Clusters page.