PASAY CITY – City Information Officer Aurora D. Amilig, representing City Mayor Darwin C. Estrañero, conveyed the support of the city government to the proposed division of Barangay Nambaran into two independent barangays during the public hearing of the Committee on Local Government on August 12, 2024, at the Senate of the Philippines in Pasay City.
Senate Bill No. 1413, authored by Senator Imee Marcos, and House Bill No. 4842, authored by Kalinga Lone District Representative Allen Jesse Mangaoang, initially proposed the separation of the Sitios Ileb, New Colayo Village, Kinama, and Nambaran Daya from Barangay Nambaran, and constituting them into a distinct and independent barangay to be known as Barangay Nambaran East.
However, during the hearing, Mangaoang announced a requested change to the composition of the proposed barangays, which was agreed upon by the majority of the residents therein. “It will be changed into an act, dividing the Barangay Nambaran in the City of Tabuk, Province of Kalinga, into two distinct and independent Barangays to be known as Barangay Nambaran del Sur and Barangay Nambaran del Norte,” he said.
According to the statement of the City Mayor through Amilig, the city concurs with the Office of the Congressman’s request for adjustments to the previously filed bill as the mayor is in favor of the division of the barangay, allowing them to set their own goals for socio-economic growth.
Section 1 of the previous bill, which called for the creation of Barangay Nambaran East, would be amended and replaced with the new proposal. The territorial boundaries of the original bill, surveyed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources–Land Management Bureau of the Cordillera, will also be revised and new technical descriptions will be provided.
Additionally, Mangaoang appealed for an exemption from the population requirements for the proposed barangays, citing that they are primarily inhabited by indigenous peoples. This, among other legal basis, is supported by Republic Act No. 7160, Section 387, which allows for exemptions from the population requirements of 2,000 inhabitants for rural areas and 5,000 inhabitants for urban areas, provided that the barangay is composed of national cultural communities/indigenous cultural communities.
Raul Ludovice from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) greenlit the exemption of the originally proposed Nambaran East, noting its population of 994 and the remaining 3,260 residents in the mother barangay. However, Ludovice stated that the PSA has not yet reviewed the newly composed appeal by the congressman due to its rushed nature. Nevertheless, he confirmed that the area is primarily inhabited by indigenous peoples, which may qualify it for the population exemption.
“Since the area is primarily inhabited by indigenous people. This may be exempted by a new government from the required population count,” said Ludovice.
Barangay Nambaran is one of the largest of the forty-three (43) barangays of the city which is mainly populated by the Sumadel, Butbut, Bangad, and Tulgao, all belonging to the Tinglayan-Kalinga tribes and natives from Colayo of the Pasil Kalinga tribe. By Rio Bassong
