An Untold Story: The Drama of Upgrading Barrio (Village) Governance

This article was published in the November 4, 2007 Issue of the Bag-ong Lungsoranon**, page 7.

The Public Office Nobody Wants to Head

There was a time in our country’s history when nobody wanted to become a Teniente del Barrio. This was an office created by the Americans when they first occupied this country as the colony they bought from Spain for $20 million concluded in the Treaty of Paris last December 10, 1898 after America defeated Spain in the Spanish-American War. The U.S.S. Maine, an American Warship was blown up by the Spaniards in the port of Havana, Cuba resulting in the outbreak of war between America and Spain on February 15, 1898. At that time the Philippine population was eight million Filipinos.

Spain’s Mode of Governance of the Colony

Originally the Philippine villages were called barrios by the Spaniards. The village head was called “Cabeza del Barangay” whose unwelcomed task was to collect taxes from the barrio folks and to recruit them for forced labor for public projects rendered for free.

The locus of power rested with a petty governor called “Gobernadorcillo” who was appointed by the Spaniards from among the cluster of Cabezas del Barangay. This occupation was called the “Principalia” or the chosen elite of the various villages.

The Gobernadorcillo had limited authority which consisted of settling petty disputes in the community and to enforce the law with the help of the “Guardia Civil”. The Cabeza del Barangay was a social figurehead to run errands for the petty governor.

Filtered Democracy

When the Americans occupied the Philippines US President William McKinley took steps to prepare the Filipinos for eventual democracy. They began teaching the Filipinos the difficult art of self-governance. Unfortunately such process did not filter down to grassroots governance. While the Americans revised the title of Cabeza del Barangay into the Teniente del Barrio or Barrio Lieutenant they did not grant governance powers to the Barrio Lieutenant. It is ironic that the more things changed the more things remained the same.

Making the Position Elective Made No Difference

Since the appointive character of the Teniente del Barrio suffered frequent refusal of candidates from being appointed to the unwanted position making it an elective post made no difference. Members of the inteligensia of the barrio community offered strong resistance to run for the position of Teniente del Barrio even when the rural communities were granted a Barrio Charter through Republic Act No. 2370 as sponsored by Senator Emmanuel Pelaez of Mindanao and Cebuano Congressman Antonio de Pio. This writer was deeply involved in the crafting of this Charter.

Adapting A Role Model Strategy

PACD boss, Ramon Patalinghug Binamira, a Cebuano lawyer and his key staff made up of fellow Cebuanos decided to formulate a role model strategy which called for the election of a well-known public figure who was not a politician nor belonging to any political party. They crafted a set of selection criteria which consisted as follows.

The Model Barrio Lieutenant Must Have the Following Qualifications:
1. The model must not be a professional politician nor belong to a political party and must not be a politician’s protegee.
2. He must be a person with a sound economic base of his own and not be dependent on government as his revenue base… must be financially independent.
3. He must be a popular figure on the local and national election level and have an unblemished private and public reputation.
4. He must be college educated, with a successful managerial background and with good communication skills in English and Tagalog.
5. He must be a barrio resident.
6. He must be young but mature in judgment.
7. He must be committed to serve the country.
8. He must be a natural born Filipino.
9. He must be socially acceptable in the business and political community.
10. He must be a person of good moral character and a highly respected head of a family.
With these criteria the challenge was to look for a candidate who was willing to run as the model Teniente del Barrio.

The Search

In the late decade of the 50’s the world was agog with the selection of a stunning beauty from Finland – blond with blue eyes – Miss Armi Kuusela as the first Miss Universe. As one of her prizes as Miss Universe she was to tour key cities of the world. The Philippines happened to be on Miss Universe’s international itinerary.

All the World Loves a Lover

While visiting Baguio City, Miss Armi Kuusela met in a social gathering dashing, very handsome real estate magnate Virgilio Hilario of Metro Manila. Losing no time Virgilio Hilario wooed Armi Kuusela in a whirlwind courtship and married her before she could leave the Philippines. The world was taken aback that a Filipino suitor captured the heart of Miss Universe during her brief stay in the Philippines. It was an amazing romantic feat.

A Daring Idea

This writer thought that Virgilio Hilario would be the dream candidate for the national role model of a Barrio Lieutenant. Gil Hilario was a resident of the richest barrio in the Philippines – Barrio Forbes Park where the country’s multimillionaires dwelt.

When this writer mentioned the name of Virgilio Hilario as the ideal Barrio Lieutenant the PACD Management Staff regarded that this writer was reaching for the moon.

- “You must be nuts to think Virgilio would settle to run as a mere Teniente del Barrio of Forbes Park. He maybe regarded as a laughing stock of Forbes Park where the country’s multimillionaires live,” chided a Cebuano lawyer who was a member of the PACD Management Staff.

“If you want a model – choose the best man for the job!” I retorted.

“I like the daring idea. We could set it up so Virgilio Hilario could be elected also as the first President of the Barrio Lieutenants Association of the Philippines – the BLAP which we can swiftly organize, “ responded PACD boss Binamira.

“That’s the way to go bay (the contracted Cebuano term for Sagabay – meaning dear buddy) Lindy. Your idea is terrific. It is only logical that since you are the head of the local government unit of PACD and that fathered the idea yours is the job of approaching Virgilio Hilario and selling him the idea of running as the Teniente del Barrio of Forbes Park. I have every confidence in your selling ability and your gift of tongue,” remarked Ramon Binamira.

Laying the Groundworks

The PACD Staff swiftly moved into action. The BLAP – Barrio Lieutenants Association of the Philippines – was formed after organizing a series of Federation of Barrio Lieutenants all over the country to act as the base of the BLAP.

Formulating a Selling Strategy

Having sound corporate marketing experience this writer thought out a selling strategy to overcome whatever potential objections the Hilarios may raise.

Selling Features

This writer came out with the following selling points:
1. Being elected as Barrio Lieutenant of Barrio Forbes Park would be the trigger to have Virgilio Hilario elected as the first President of the 20, 000 barrios of the Philippines – a historic acheivement.
2. Armi Kuusela would now become a First Lady of the barrio folks of the Philippines thereby giving honor and distinction to the lowly Philippine barrio. This would capture not only national but even global attention – giving substance to a popular U.S. drama entitled “She stoops to conquer!”
3. Gil Hilario would have the distinctive honor of being the pivotal person responsible for imparting to a publicly demeaning position of Barrio Lieutenant a new level of social standing – a touch of class, dignity and social acceptance.

The Selling Encounter

Armed with those selling points this writer called on the Hilario residence in Forbes Park on December 31, 1959 at 10 AM. Barrio elections was less than a month away. The pressure weighed heavily on this writer.

Virgilio Hilario and Armi Kuusela-Hilario greeted this writer at the door.

“What can we do for you, Mr. Morrell of PACD?” inquired Virgilio Hilario.

“Would you like some coffee?” offered Armi Kuusela-Hilario. I nodded with gusto. Imagine have Miss Universe serving you coffee. I thought. Wait till the guys in the PACD office hears about this.

“Mr. Hilario,” I began.

“Call me Gil, Lindy if you don’t mind,” Virgilio Hilario commented.

“The country needs your help Gil,” I appealed.

“My help? Why? How can I help? I am not a public official. I am not a politician. I am just a plain businessman,” reasoned Gil Hilario. I could see the frown appear on Armi Kuusela-Hilario’s face – the welcoming spirit vanished into thin air.

“We would like you to run for Barrio Lieutenant of Forbes Park so you can become a role model for all Barrio Lieutenants all over the country,” I began selling pitch.

“Ha! Me? A mere Barrio Lieutenant? Why, I can run for mayor – or governor or congressman or even a senator if I want to. But politics I shun!” retorted Virgilio Hilario.

The Sale Begins When the Customer Says No!

“True Gil,” I agreed. “Running for Barrio Lieutenant sounds demeaning. That is precisely why we want you to run – to bestow upon this socially unacceptable position the dignity, the prestige, the social acceptance it needs so badly for so long. Anybody can run for mayor, governor, congressman or senator. But not anybody can run for Barrio Lieutenant and give the position the honor it so rightfully deserves,” I recounted.

“That would be a great sacrifice on my family, Lindy,” admitted Gil Hilario. “Find somebody else,” he decided.

“But it’s not going to be forever, Gil. All we need is to give it an initial push. Do you know what tradeoffs you will reap in exchange for the so-called sacrifice you will make?” I raised the ante.

“Just the honor of being a Barrio Lieutenant of Forbes Park for which my fellow residents might get them to say: ‘True he has won Miss Universe. But he lost his mind by running for the most degraded position in the Philippine Government hierarchy,” laughed Gil Hilario sarcastically.

The Hidden Perks Revealed

“Being a Teniente del Barrio of Forbes Park is only a small iota of benefit,” I began to point out.

“The juicy benefits are as follows,” I continued.

“You get to be the first National President of the 20,000 barrios in the country. That beats the constituency of any mayor, governor or even a congressman. You will be the envy of any senator,” I revealed.

“Armi, here gets to be, historically, the First Lady of all the barrio folks all over the country. Can you imagine how the foreign Press will lap it up for the World Audience? Miss Universe wins the hearts of Asian villagers for such honor,” I stressed.

“Villagers of all countries the world over will regard Armi as their village patroness,” I underscored.

“The sacrifice you cited is actually an investment in the bank of goodwill. The business community will laud you for your Social Conscience in helping the downtrodden Barrio Lieutenants attain their rightful place in the sun,” I recited.

“I cannot personally campaign as a candidate here in Barrio Forbes Park. My neighbors will laugh in my face,” reasoned Virgilio Hilario.

“Don’t worry. We will do the campaigning for you. We can assure you, you will win unopposed,” I uttered in confidence.

We campaigned door-to-door asking housemaids, drivers, gardeners, plumbers, electricians, garbage collectors of Forbes Park residences to vote for Virgilio Hilario as their guapo Teniente del Barrio. Virgilio Hilario won in the January 10, 1960 Barrio Elections. He also won as the first National President of the Barrio Lieutenants Association of the Philippines. Filipinos were awed by Gil Hilario’s impressive victory considering that he was not a seasoned politician. Suddenly the position of Barrio Lieutenant gained a new aura of social appeal and community standing. Virgilio Hilario won the hearts of his countrymen for paving the way to a new perception of a Barrio Lieutenant. He was invited in many important official gatherings in the country. Eventually even his wife Armi Kuusela-Hilario also ran for a position in the Barrio Council.

Food for Thought

I had accomplished my mission. The lesson of this story is: “HE WHO DARES --- WINS.”

It took a Cebuano to give the Barrio the precious focus it deserves. The Teniente del Barrio has now been promoted to the rank of Capitan del Barangay. Now, many people would like to run for the position of Barangay Captain with all its accompanying perks, rewards and compensation and the prestige of being a Barangay official.

Barangay Officials Must Have a Free Hand
to Manage Their Own Local Affairs

Today we have 41,969 barangays all over the country in which the mayors of 117 cities and 1,501 municipalities have oversight powers but not dictatorial clouts over the barangay officials who are vested by the Local Government Code their own share of powers, duties and responsibilities.

Mayors should refrain from unduly imposing their will on the barangay officials who are directly answerable to their voting constituents for their actions, behavior and track record of performance.

The time to obey “ang utos ni mayor” (the order of the mayor) are over. The people might boot out such mayor if he ignores the barangay constituencies’ aspirations for development which the barangay officials are duty bound to honor and execute. Mayors should act and behave as responsible public executives and not as tormentors and political overlords of barangay officials who are their political opponents or those who would dare oppose their dictation.

-LCM

*Bag-ong Lungsoranon is the Diocesan Publication of the Archdiocese of Cebu (Philippines).