I’m not sure why, but the salaries of P1,000 per month for a barangay captain and P600 for a kagawad, as stated in the Local Government Code of 1991, do not seem commensurate to the fervor, ardor, and occasional violence that campaigning at the local level seems to entail. (Yes, even now — in this post-pandemic, possibly pre-apocalyptic world.)

The figures above, seen in a document from the Department of Budget and Management, are, of course, minimums.

 A provision in Executive Order 332 states that “the rates of honorarium prescribed in Section 393 (a) of RA 7160 may be increased/ adjusted.”

Such increases and adjustments depend on how rich or poor one’s local government unit is.

In other words, a barangay chairperson nowadays may receive from P7,900 up to P33,848 if they are from a first-class or special city. The lowest that a kapitan may get — being from a sixth-class municipality — is P21,998, according to a report that quoted Dennis Villaseñor, director of the Department of the Interior and Local Government’s National Barangay Operation Center.

Meanwhile, Sangguniang Kabataan heads get the same as the Kagawads, while SK members receive a little less.

While the monthly honorarium is significant, perhaps the perks and benefits of serving the people are the primary draw — and the reason former officials would play “changing places” so they could keep “serving the people.”

What does a barangay official get — aside from the feeling of fulfillment in helping maintain the peace and order in their communities and addressing the concerns of the least of our brothers and sisters?

For their trouble, an honorarium is allotted from the LGU budget. And for their sacrifice, barangay officials (chairman, councilors, treasurer, and secretary) are also entitled to the following benefits, as summarized below:

“Christmas bonus in the form of cash gift at the rate authorized by law; insurance coverage under RA 6942 (including tanods but not exceeding 20 in each barangay); medical care consisting of free hospitalization in government hospitals; free tuition and matriculation fees in government schools in their area (including two of their legitimate dependent children during their term of office only); conferment of civil service eligibility based on the number of years of service in the barangay when they have completed their term of office; and preference in appointment to any government position to which they are qualified for the Punong Barangay and Sangguniang Barangay members after their term of office.”

More than 336,000 council positions were up for grabs nationwide last Monday. While deemed “generally peaceful” by the Commission on Elections, the barangay elections yielded around 27 deaths in election-related violence.

Because we all know the grassroots level is where it all starts.