THE barangay captain of Caputatan Norte, Medellin, northern Cebu edged out barangay chiefs of all towns in Central Visayas in the search for Ten Outstanding Barangay Officials of the Year.
Barangay Captain Agnes Yaun won the regional search for towns, alongside Josefina Galo-Quiros of Maslog, Danao City.
Barangay Captain Elvis Narra of Adlaon, Cebu City bested other barangay captains in the highly-urbanized cities category.
The three received their awards yesterday from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) during the 22nd anniversary of the Local Government Code held at the Crown Regency Tower Hotel.
Narra, the winning barangay chief for the highly-urbanized cities category, said he went to all the 23 sitios in his mountain barangay to hear his people’s gripes instead of gathering them in one place.
A first-term barangay captain, he said 90 percent of the 700 families in his place are farmers and are supplying sweet corn in leading supermarkets with their daily harvest of 3,000 tons.
Six barangays from Negros Oriental, Siquijor and Bohol also received various awards.
The DILG 7 started the search in 1991 to recognize the outstanding performance of barangay officials.
DILG Assistant Secretary Elie Fernandez said that the award is to recognize the exemplary models of the barangay based on their performance the previous year and has nothing to do with the upcoming barangay elections.
The 34 barangay officials who were nominated are “corruption-free with good track record and accomplishments and has good leadership.”
Leadership performance, visibility to the constituents and project and ordinances passed are the DILG’s main criteria in choosing the winners./Correspondent Christine Emily L. Pantaleon