The LGUs will be getting a record P959.04 billion of next year’s budget through their national tax allotment , formerly called the internal revenue allotment or IRA.This big increase was due to the implementation of the Supreme Court’s Mandanas-Garcia ruling, which gave LGUs a bigger slice of the national government’s annual tax collections.The high tribunal granted in 2018 and reaffirmed a year later the petitions of Batangas Gov. Hermilando Mandanas and former Bataan Gov. Enrique Garcia Jr.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, who heads President Duterte’s economic team, said earlier this month that based on their estimates, the implementation of the Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling would yield lower economic growth because local governments use funds less efficiently.“Lower spending efficiency as a result of the Supreme Court decision to expand the share of LGUs from the NTA must be adequately addressed by the next administration’s economic team,” he said.
Duterte noted that the 2022 budget, the last spending plan of his administration, aims to build resilience amid the pandemic, sustain the momentum toward recovery and continue his legacy of infrastructure development. These budget allocations were prone to misuse for patronage and election-related purposes, Brosas claimed.