Competencies of punong barangay for good governance: An assessment

Governance is the establishment of policies, and continuous monitoring of their proper implementation by the members of the governing body of an organization. It includes the mechanisms required to balance the powers of the members with the associated accountability and their primary duty of enhancing the prosperity and viability of the organization. Good governance is about the processes for making and implementing decisions. It is not about making ‘correct’ decisions, but about the best possible process for making those decisions. Good decision-making processes and good governance therefore share several characteristics. Both have a positive effect on various aspects of local government including consultation on policies and practices, meeting procedures, service quality protocols, councillors and officers’ conduct, role clarification and good working relationships. As the basic political unit, the barangay serves as the primary planning and implementing unit of government policies, plans, programs, projects, and activities in the community and as a forum wherein the collective views of the people may be expressed, crystallized and given due course and an avenue wherein contending claims maybe amicably settled. This study focuses in determining the competencies of Punong barangay for good governance as perceived by their constituents utilizing the descriptive research design. This method described the competencies of the Punong barangays for good governance. Respondents utilized in this undertaking were the community residents of the barangays being surveyed. There were 40 respondents per barangay for a total of 400 respondents. An interview schedule and structured questionnaire were used in gathering the data. The questionnaire was pre-tested at Afusing, Alcala, Cagayan and validated before it was finally administered to the respondents. Data were analyzed using frequency counts and percentages.