Balulang bags 1st runner up in 2024 Lupon national awards

The 20th City Council through Resolution No. 15109-2024 has commended the barangay mediation committee (Lupong Tagapamayapa) of Balulang, headed by Punong Barangay Edwin Micabani, for winning 1st runner-up in the 2024 National Lupong Tagapamayapa Incentives Award (LTIA) held on November 7, 2023 at the Manila Hotel, Metro Manila.

Councilor Christian Rustico Achas, in a special report during the 102nd regular session, said that the recognition given by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to Barangay Balulang is a huge feat, citing that it requires time, patience, and ideas to clinch such a prestigious award.

During the session, Vice Mayor Bebot Rodriguez asked Punong Barangay Micabani to address the City Council to share his initiatives in winning the award so as to encourage other barangay lupons to replicate.

Micabani said that only 3 out of the 80 barangays will proceed to the regional level after having gone through the evaluation done by the city.

In the regional evaluation, a candidate for the award is not only asked to submit documents but will also be interviewed by a panel of evaluators, he added.

Once the regional winner is determined, the winning lupon will be endorsed to compete in  the national level with 42,000 other barangays nationwide, he concluded.

Under the highly urbanized city category, Barangay Budlaan in Cebu claimed the top prize, Barangay Tibungco, Davao placed third.

The Lupong Tagapamayapa Incentives Awards was established in 1997 as a means to institutionalize a system of granting economic benefits and other incentives to the Lupong Tagapamayapa that demonstrates efficiency of operations, effectiveness in securing the katarungang pambarangay objectives, and creativity and resourcefulness of mediators in settling disputes at the grassroots level.