IF I WERE THE NEXT PRESIDENT (Part 11 of a series)

By BEN R. PUNONGBAYAN

Founder, Buklod National Political Party

At present, the Local Government Units (LGUs), with their Internal Revenue Allotments (IRA), are hardly mobilized to get directly involved in economic development.

The LGUs have been decentralized since 1991, or a period of 30 long years. With the decentralization, they have been given 40% share of the Bureau of Internal Revenue collections computed on the basis of the collections of three years ago. This allocation will be augmented beginning 2022 by an additional 40% of the customs duties collected by the Bureau of Customs in compliance with the Supreme Court decision in 2018.

The total IRA for 2021 is P695 billion and is allocated among the provinces, cities, towns, and barangays based on established proportions and methods of subsequent sub-allocation. The LGUs are required to spend 20% of their…