VM Dodot leads dialogue with Pasigueños in ‘Talakayan sa Barangay’

In a bid to push for “people-centered governance” promised by the current Pasig local government, Vice Mayor Robert “Dodot” Jaworski Jr. and the 11th City Council launched on Friday, Jan. 12, the “Talakayan sa Barangay” initiative.

The initiative is an activity akin to a townhall meeting where the vice mayor and the city councilors answer questions, accomodate requests, and remedy complaints expressed by the residents of the barangay.

Alongside the officials, heads and representatives of the local government departments and city hall offices are also present to give further insight to the citizens’ inquiries.

The inaugural Talakayan was held in Barangay San Miguel, with the next scheduled event at Barangay Sto. Tomas.

The Talakayan will be a weekly project of the city council that will go on until the end of their term.

In a press interview at the event, Jaworski told reporters that the initiative was made to enable opportunities to hear peoples’ concerns directly in order to make their policies more effective and substantial to their constituents.

“Mayor Vico and I do ‘Oplan Kaayusan’ everyday so we do get to go around and meet people in the city. But it’s different when there’s a proper setting that can facilitate dialogue,” said Jaworski.

Before the meetings are held, the OVM passes down notices to the barangay so residents can submit their list of concerns.

Majority of the issues presented in the San Miguel Talakayan were parochial in nature, the vice mayor noted.

“In the future, we will prioritize larger scale problems that affect the majority of the population, and refer smaller concerns to the designated offices,” he said.

Most of the pressing concerns relayed by citizens were land-related issues such as ownership and lack of titles, lack of spaces for proper tricycle terminals, and difficulties in availing utility services like water and electricity due to conflicting land disputes or irregularities.

As for the outcomes of the Talakayan, Jaworski said its a “matter of following up” on the people’s concerns to ensure that action has been undertaken to resolve the problem.

“We have a feedback mechanism and we have to check to validate whether anything is really done, if it is being fixed or addressed,” he said.

Although there are some problems such as land disputes that have existed decades before their election into office and will possibly not be resolved in their mere three-year term, Jaworski emphasized that visibly taking action to address them is what matters.

“We have to help each other. If we can do it now, then good and fine. But our dream is to resolve all our problems. If we don’t achieve this, at least we did our job to move forward,” he added.