Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos on Friday said that some 42,000 barangay captains and other newly-elected officials throughout the country will undergo continuing training to better equip and prepare them for various challenges that they might encounter while performing their duties as village leaders.

Abalos said the training program called Grassroots Renewal and Empowerment for Accountable and Transparent (GREAT) Barangays will run until 2025 and is designed to capacitate the village officials in all aspects of leadership.

"As the basic unit of local governance, at pinakamalapit sa ating mga kababayan sa komunidad, everything starts in the barangay," Abalos explained.

"The DILG, through the Local Government Academy (LGA), ensures that our newly-elected barangay officials are ready to face the challenges of leadership in the barangays. We will prepare our barangay officials," he added.

The training program will commence with a two-day basic orientation course to introduce them to the fundamentals of barangay governance particularly on the relevant provisions of the Local Government Code, development planning, budget and finance, participation, and public ethics and accountability.

Apart from the orientation course, it will also provide technical assistance in the implementation of specialized courses on barangay governance, enriching citizen participation, and performance management.

The Seal of Good Local Governance for Barangays (SGLGB) will also be discussed extensively in the program.

"Capacitating our barangay officials is as critical as voting for them. Malaki ang resposibilidad na nakaatang sa kanila na inilatag ng ating batas. Preparing them now can spell a great deal of difference sa kanilang panunungkulan," Abalos said.

To ensure the participation of all barangay leaders, the DILG will employ a multi-stakeholder approach through the Local Governance Resource Centers at the regional and sub-regional level to partner with the Liga ng mga Barangay and other concerned offices.