Training Needs of Barangay Officials

CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

The Republic Act 7160 or commonly known as the Local Government Code of 1991 had enacted the transfer of power and authority from the national government to local units. As the territorial and political subdivisions of the state. One of the powers devolved to the local government unit is the power to create its own sources of revenues. Merely, this autonomous power is a challenge to every local official in the grass-root.

Decentralization may not succeed if the local government officials will not be given the power and authority to generate and expend funds freely in accordance with the law.

Local government officials with their limited educational background and trainings more specifically at the barangay level
may hamper the performance of their unit in generating additional revenue on top of the fixed Internal Revenue Allotment as provided under RA 7160

Local government has been considered important to the encouragement of political education and participation, and the basis upon which services could be provided according to local needs.

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Hence, relationships with the national have been based on the partnership of free democratic institutions. Secondly, local government has been seen as rational from an administrative point of view as it allows for the efficient provision of public services at the point of service need under the direction of the national. On this basis local government is seen as the agent of central government.

Theoretical Framework

The Local Government Code of 1991 (LGC) was an ambitious effort to transform local government units (LGUs) from mere agents of the national Government into autonomous managers of the design, funding, and delivery of key government services at the local level.

For each level of LGU a clear mandate and sphere of administrative and financial autonomy were defined. The share of Government domestic revenues transferred to LGUs was doubled to 40% and LGU were empowered to create their own revenue sources such as levies, taxes, fees, and charges, and to access credit markets.

The 6 (six) principles of public fiscal management are the following1: 1. Democratic consent: Taxation and spending should not be done without the explicit consent of the governed. 2. Equity: Governments should be equitable ( treat people in similar circumstances similarly) in raising and spending taxes. 3. Transparency: What governments do in raising and spending funds should be open to the public knowledge and scrutiny. 4. Probity: There must be scrupulous honesty in dealing with public funds, of which legislators and administrators are the stewards, not the owners. 5. Prudence: These stewards should not take undue risks with public funds. 6. Accountability: Those who deal in public funds can and should be regularly called to account for their stewardship through legislative review and audit processes.

Conceptual Framework

The Local Government Code of 1991 (LGC) was an ambitious effort to transform local government units (LGUs) from mere agents of the national Government into autonomous managers of the design, funding, and delivery of key government services at the local level. For each level of LGU a clear mandate and sphere of administrative and financial autonomy were defined. The share of Government domestic revenues transferred to LGUs was doubled to 40% and LGU were empowered to create their own revenue sources such as levies, taxes, fees, and charges, and to access credit markets.

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to identify training needs of barangay officials in public fiscal administration to effectively and efficiently perform their duties in managing their barangay financial affairs pursuant to RA 7160. It will cover the study to determine the training needs of each barangay officials in public fiscal administration to boost development and strengthen fiscal position of their Barangay unit.

Particularly, the research shall address the following specific problems:

1. What are the past and current experiences of the Barangay Officials in terms of the following:

a. Budgeting
b. Local Taxation/Revenue Generation and Expenditures c. Accounting
d. Auditing

2. What do they need so that they could develop expertise in the above areas of fiscal administration?

3. What training did they have attended in the past?

4. What trainings are available in the government institution and agencies made to offer to every officials and personnel?

Hypothesis

Dispersal of financial responsibility or fiscal decentralization is a core component of decentralization. If local governments and private organizations are to carry out decentralized functions effectively, they must have an adequate level of revenues – either raised locally or transferred from the central government– as well as the authority to make decisions about expenditures. Fiscal decentralization can take many forms, including.

▪ Self-financing or cost recovery through user charges,
▪ Co-financing or co-production arrangements through which the users participate in providing services and infrastructure through monetary or labor contributions; ▪ Expansion of local revenues through property or sales taxes, or indirect charges; ▪ Intergovernmental transfers that shift general revenues from taxes collected by the central government to local governments for general or specific uses; and ▪ Authorization of municipal borrowing and the mobilization of either national or local government resources through loan guarantees. In many developing countries local governments or administrative units possess the legal authority to impose taxes, but the tax base is so weak and the dependence on central government subsidies so ingrained that no attempt is made to exercise that authority.

Scope and Delimitation of the Study

Significance of the Problem

Definition of Term

With the purpose of elaborating technical terms used in this study the following terms are defined as follows:

1. Barangay/Barrio – the basic and smallest political and territorial unit of government which serves as the primary planning and implementing unit of government policies, plans, programs, projects and activities in the communities, and as a forum wherein the collective views of the people may be amicably settled.

2. Barangay Officials – the elected or appointed officials and personnel (e.g. Punong Barangay, Kagawad, Barangay secretary, Barangay treasurer) tasked of administering the affairs of a barangay unit.

3. Grant –in-Aid – funds made available through donation from any agency, group, or individual for the barangay to expand on a pre-determined project or program.

4. Levy – fix and collect a specific amount of money from a specific services, businesses and properties.

5. Power to tax – inherent authority of the state to impose taxes on the citizens and their properties including their transactions in business purposely to generate revenue and income to finance the ends of the state and general well being of the people.

6. Sangguniang Barangay – legislative body of the Barangay which shall be composed of the punong barangay as presiding officer, the 7 (seven) regular sangguniang barangay members elected and the sangguniang kabataan chairperson.

7. Subsidies – funds made available by the municipality, province or the national government to augment the financial capacity of the barangays to implement development programs and projects.

8. Budgeting – a system wherein a detailed financing programs are prepared to project revenues and expenditures. The act of forecasting with the purpose of projecting financial requirements of a government unit.

9. Taxation – the process or means by which the sovereign, through its law making body, raises revenue to defray the necessary expenses of the government.

10. Taxes – the enforced proportional contributions levied by the law-making body of the state by virtue of its sovereignty upon the persons or property within its jurisdiction for the support of the government and public needs.

11. Revenue – funds used not to keep the government machinery going but also to enable the government to carry out its fiscal functions of allocation, distribution, and stabilization.

12. Accounting – defined pursuant to Section 109, PD 1445 as one which “encompasses the process of analyzing, recording, classifying, summarizing and communicating

13. Auditing – the examination of information by a third party other than the preparer or user with the intention of establishing its reliability, and the reporting of the results of this examination with the expectation of increasing the usefulness of the information to the user

CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

Foreign Literature

Foreign Studies

Local Literature

Local Studies

Synthesis and Relevance to the Study

CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The Method of Research Used

The Population Frame and Sample Size

Description of the Respondents

Instrumentation

Data Gathering Procedure

Statistical Treatment of the Data

Course objectives: This course is about taxing, borrowing, and spending. It builds on the financial management skills acquired in GSM 504, GSM 532, GSM 533, this course is designed to provide the basic tools of financial and budget analysis needed for a career in public management, including consulting, or for service as an appointed or elected official or a voluntary board member. This course is divided into two blocks of instruction: 1. Financial theory -- which is concerned with the sources and uses of funds, including taxing, borrowing, and the cost of capital, and cash budgeting. 2. Budgeting -- including the budget process, operational budgeting, and capital budgeting.