Updated September 12, 2017, 3:44 PM
By Charissa Luci-Atienza

A House leader is calling on his colleagues to pass a bill seeking to provide retirement pay not only for barangay officials, but also for barangay tanods, health workers and Day Care workers.

Negros Occidental Rep. Albee Benitez sought the creation of a Barangay Retirement Fund which shall be used to finance the retirement of barangay officials, barangay tanods, members of the Lupon ng Tagapamayapa, barangay health workers and Day Care workers.

“Barangay workers are in the frontline of government services in the grassroots. They deliver the much-needed basic social services to the people and maintain peace and order, ” he said in seeking to amend Section 393 of Republic Act 7160, as amended, otherwise known as the Local Government Code of 1991.

“However, given the limited resources of the government, these barangay front liners also receive the least compensation. This reality has not discouraged some of our fellow Filipinos to serve their respective barangays and some have even stayed in barangay work for many years, ” Benitez said.

Benitez filed House Bill 6240 to provide all barangay officials and workers a lump sum retirement pay equivalent to one year honorarium.

The retiree should be at least 60 years of age with a minimum of 9 years in service at the time of the retirement, the bill provides.

HB 6240 tasks the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to administer and ensure the appropriate disbursement of the Barangay Retirement Fund.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) , in coordination with the DILG, shall issue the necessary rules and regulations to implement the proposed Act.