'If mismanagement of garbage collection isn’t enough to rile homeowners, some sources have also informed this newsmagazine that the subdivision may be a breeding ground for patronage politics as well.'
Political analysts and concerned citizens have often lamented that graft and corruption in the Philippines have gone all the way down to the barangay level.
This newsmagazine would like to differ.
Why don’t we take a deeper look at the large gated subdivisions that had become part of the geographical landscape of Laguna’s first district?
Because, if we were to believe the stories of corruption and mismanagement that we have been hearing from Barangay Pacita 1 in San Pedro City, Laguna, we may have to arrive at a disturbing conclusion: that what is happening at the level of these exclusive subdivisions might as well be a mirror of what is happening right now in our local political arena.
Garbage Collection
Pacita Complex, which used to be part of Barangay San Vicente, until a 2015 plebiscite split the barangay into eight separate barangays, is one of the oldest and major urban developments in San Pedro City.
Yet, with its booming economy – as its main road is now home to a growing number of commercial establishments – there have been numerous complaints received by OpinYon Laguna about the way the local Homeowners Association (HOA) allegedly collects their garbage.
Take, for instance, this complaint from the administrator of a certain school operating along the main road about how the garbage in front of their building had not been collected in weeks.
What’s worse, that admin told OpinYon Laguna, was the way she was “passed around” by barangay and HOA officials when she reported the uncollected garbage.
“Ang sabi po sa barangay, yung homeowners daw po dapat ang responsable sa pangongolekta ng basura, tapos nung nagpunta naman ako sa homeowners, sabi nila barangay raw po dapat ang umaksyon diyan,” she recounted.
City Gov't Intervenes
It was only through the direct intervention of the city government of San Pedro that the garbage was finally collected.
According to another tenant of that building, it wasn’t the barangay or the homeowners’ trucks which finally picked up the trash but the yellow dump trucks from the city government.
OpinYon Laguna has also heard “horror stories” about how the railway tracks right next to the subdivision have also become a sort of dump site, especially after the tracks were removed and the area fenced off due to the construction of the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR).
Another source told OpinYon Laguna that the stench coming from uncollected trash have overectended to houses in the area, making lives of residents even more miserable amid the extreme temperatures in the past days.
“Parang nagtuturuan nga po sila, kasi hindi po malinaw kung yung homeowners o yung barangay o yung Department of Transportation (DOTr) ang responsable sa pag-aayos ng tambak ng basura doon sa riles,” that source added.
Payback Through Payback?
If mismanagement of garbage collection isn’t enough to rile homeowners, some sources have also informed this newsmagazine that the subdivision may be a breeding ground for patronage politics as well.
According to OpinYon Laguna’s source, one phase leader in this particular subdivision allegedly crafted rules that will bar homeowners with outstanding debts from voting in the local phase elections.
Sounds innocuous, right?
After all, there have been rules in other subdivisions ensuring that voters have to pay their own dues and fees before they can vote and become candidates for HOA elections.
But here’s the thing: our source complained of being barred from voting in their local phase elections, even though this source’s lien was just over a hundred pesos – and the homeowner fees were often included in the payment of water bills inside this subdivision!
If that’s not enough to get into our source’s nerves, it was discovered that this particular phase leader, in the run-up to the local elections, allegedly paid off the balance of dues of other homeowners in the block.
“E di alam na natin kung bakit siya ang nag-shoulder ng outstanding dues ng mga kapitbahay namin – di siyempre, ang iboboto nila sa phase election e yung kung sinong gusto niya, dahil nga may utang na loob sila sa kanya,” our source griped. (Long story short, that “favored” candidate for phase leader won the election.)
By the way, given these issues over garbage collection, some residents are now reportedly questioning where their homeowners’ dues are actually going.
It Goes All The Way Down
Given that the 2025 election is now less than a year away, some political analysts have expressed belief that the situation inside the large gated subdivisions in Laguna province should also merit concern.
“Lagi na lang ang focus natin tuwing eleksyon ay yung mga ‘open barangay’ o di kaya yung mga lugar na may informal settler o mga maralitang taga-lungsod,” one analyst who spoke on condition of anonymity told OpinYon Laguna.
“Pero tingnan din natin kung paano gumagalaw ang pulitika sa loob ng mga subdivision na ito na may sari-sariling mga organisasyon gaya ng homeowners’ association.
"Sa palagay ko, maaari rin kasing magamit ng mga traditional politician ang mga HOA na ito upang humakot ng suporta at boto tuwing panahon ng eleksyon. At dahil gaya sa mga barangay ay magkakakilala ang mga residente ng mga subdivision na ito, mas prone sila sa ‘makalumang’ sistema ng pulitika na pilit ngayong binubuwag ng bagong henerasyon.”
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