BAGUIO CITY — Local officials here are advancing a plan to drastically reduce the number of barangays from the current 128 through a consolidation effort, a move proponents say will significantly improve local governance, services and finances.

Councilor Rocky Aliping, who also serves as president of the Liga ng mga Barangay (LnB), confirmed that the proposed ordinance is moving forward and is expected to benefit both residents and barangay workers.

The goal is to merge the city’s barangays and bring the final count down to between 60 and 70, a number adjusted from an original proposal of 34, pending census data and discussions.

Aliping explained that the primary motivation is to ensure compliance with the Local Government Code of 1991, which mandates that a barangay must have a minimum population of 5,500.

According to the councilor, many of Baguio’s smaller villages have failed to meet this requirement for decades. He called the consolidation the “only way” to regularize the status of these non-compliant villages, citing the successful administrative reform in Ormoc City, which reduced its barangays from 27 to four, as a model.

The city is scheduling a comprehensive series of public consultations to gather community input before the final draft of the ordinance is formulated.

Aliping anticipates that the merger will lead to a “dramatic improvement” in the financial standing and service delivery of the new, consolidated barangays. Merged barangays will have the fiscal capacity to provide officials with standardized, significantly higher salaries and full benefits, including social insurance.

Furthermore, due to larger National Tax Allocation shares, the new barangays will operate with substantially bigger annual budgets, which will allow for the professionalization of local government.

This professionalization includes hiring professional staff such as a Barangay Engineer, Barangay Accountant and Barangay Administrator, thereby enhancing governance and service efficiency.

If the City Council approves the ordinance, it must then undergo ratification by a plebiscite. If passed by voters, the merger is expected to take effect immediately.