by A. Lumaque

Roxas City (25 October) -- An updating and completion of registry of barangay inhabitants (RBI) were among the main agenda of various barangays in the province who joined the observance of a nationwide “Barangay Assembly Day” last October 21 to establish a statistics of its residents.

The initiative is mandated in a Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Memorandum Circular No. 2006 – 134 dated Oct. 6 to enable all barangays to update and complete their databases for posting in the National Barangay Operations Office statistical records.

DILG Secretary Ronaldo Puno said peace and order councils down to the barangay level would be mobilized to help in the government's antiterrorism campaign by keeping an updated list of their communities' inhabitants and reporting anything suspicious.

The government is tapping local government units, particularly the country’s 41,000 barangays, alongside the police and military to lead the fight against terrorism that has assumed a “local character” approach.

Puno added that Executive Order No. 546, which makes the PNP a co-equal partner with the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the anti-insurgency campaign, also authorizes the use of barangay leaders as force multipliers to strengthen the government fight against terrorism and other security threats.

"We can fight terrorism not only by reinforcing the operational and logistical capability of our police and military but also by preventing its occurrence through simple information-gathering and monitoring," the DILG chief said.

About 37,534 of the country’s 41,972 barangays have already created their own barangay peace and order committees (BPOC) based on the DILG records. The BPOCs would help forge closer partnerships among the police, military and the local communities.