Upper Hinaplanon SK recognized as among top ten in PH

ILIGAN City ― The Sangguniang Kabataan of Upper Hinaplanon barangay of this city has been recognized as among the top ten SKs in the country.

Vera Mae Bado, chair of said SK told listeners radio program hosts Roy Openiano and Jose Zalsos in an interview early this week that they had been considered, first, as among the top twenty SKs in the country. Then they moved up to the top 10. This was made last June 12 at Iloilo City, she said in a gathering of SKs to commemorate the independence day of this country.

Their award, she said, was in connection with their project entitled “Bringing Upper Hinaplanon to Digital Age.”

She added that being officials of said SK really posed great challenges for them as said barangay, for 29 years has had no Internal Revenue Allotment and they had to depend on sponsorships and solicitations. It helped though that some personnel in said barangay, as well as city officials, were helpful in their project, she said, like lawyer Saidale Gandamra, barangay chair Artemio Edison B. Barbano, councilor Emily Henson, the city’s SK representative, and city mayor Frederick Siao.

The said barangay, she said, like most barangays in the city and others throughout the country, was lagging behind in the digitalization aspect and they had to start from scratch as all data recordings were “crude.”

So, from that, together with other SK officials they brought their project to Iloilo City. There were only four of them who went there because of budget constraints for the said event even as other SKs had brought with them all their officials.

She added though that lately, the barangay has an IRA already, which is now named NTA or National Tax Allocation, and with that, the SK now is budgeted P49,000 for their projects. She did not say how much is the NTA of the said barangay.

It can be noted that the said barangay has been a troubled barangay as it is a gateway to hinterland barangays in the city like Mandulog, Lanipao, Dulag, and Kalilangan.