SUBSIDIARITY AND SUSTAINABILITY IN THE MIDST OF A CRISIS

“Let the Nat'l Gov"t feed those more needy urban poors in the cities and those less

fortunate in other areas who can't sustain themselves, while we sustain ourselves while

we can.” - Mayor Gabino Ganggangan of Sadanga

This is for me, the most striking line on the statement in connection with the relief

operations in response with the current pandemic situation. Clearly, this bold move

manifests Sadanga’s subsidiarity and sustainability.

In the concept of subsidiarity, while the Executive Department exercises the power of

supervision to the Local Government Units (LGUs), that former’s task is primarily to

oversee the latter’s actions, it cannot override nor redo such actions. In other words, the

LGUs have more in depth knowledge on the strengths and weakness of its people and its

area than the National Government. In this time of crisis, Sadanga can freely accept relief

goods for its constituents as what substantially all municipalities in the country did,

however, it decided to rely on the people’s solidarity and recognized that there is a greater

need outside the municipality. Declining help from the National Government, offered an

opportunity for its people to develop and reinforce their values such as kindness and

cooperation.

“It’s not that we don't have poor and needy families but I believe that we as tribal

communities still have and should sustain our "built in" and homegrown or indigenous

social structure, values, and practice of taking care of our respective relatives or kins,

neighbors ,or kailyan in distress during hard times or economic crisis.”

 The municipality demonstrated sustainability, independence, resilience and

compassion. While others are relying “from the help of the National Government,

Sadanga have chosen to utilize their resources at hand, that is, with their own capacity

and faith in the members of the community, they can withstand this hurdle.

During this time, where majority of Filipinos are at a loss and devastated, Sadanga

showed that a person or a community should look at the positive side and be optimistic.

It is easy to complain, sit and wait for someone to extend help, but as per Sadanga, the

community can survive as one through cooperation. In the current social media setting,

many people automatically express their dismay in the current administration. While we

can admit that the current government have many lapses, I believe that we should not

rely primarily to the National Government for our survival. Individually, we need to assess

our strengths and weaknesses, what we have and what we don’t. Once we made our

assessment, we will be aware of our resources and with that awareness, we can act on that

awareness by sharing our extras to those who badly need it, as what the subject

municipality demonstrated.

This serves as a wakeup call for everyone to act first before complaining, to assess one’s

capabilities and resources before begging for support.

In the midst of selfishness, Sadanga chose selflessness, and for me, this is “Bayanihan”

in its truest sense that every Filipino should embody.