By Matthan Luceño

Barangay officials and government employees of the local gov't unit (LGU) of Hinundayan, Southern Leyte participated in an intensive course on Local Economic Development (LED) at Xavier University through its Governance and Leadership Institute (GLI).

Held on July 6 at XU AVR 1, the lecture was part of the five-day benchmarking program of the Association of Barangay Officials (ABO) in Hinundayan.

XU-GLI director Dixon Yasay, one of the local experts on LED, provided the barangay officials and employees with a framework for the optimization of corporate powers of the barangay council. He also presented nationally recognized practices that produce significant results in terms of improving the local economy.

Yasay also stressed the complexity of poverty and the difficulties that LGUs face in addressing them. He provided assurance that with the proper attitude and discipline, the prevalence of poverty can be mitigated.

“The barangay councils have a critical role in leading the community to be enterprising,” Yasay said.

“They must recognize that their locality has unique assets that can be utilized to create economic activities.”

During the open forum, the participants expressed their desire to have more engagements with GLI for guidance in the management of local economic enterprises and to ensure that economic activities will translate to increased household income.

XU-GLI intends to offer special courses on LED next year, after the 2016 elections.