Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 20)— Funds for the construction of more than 30 local ports will be given to local government units under the proposed 2023 budget, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said on Tuesday, citing a Supreme Court ruling on revenue allotment.
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The DBM statement was in response to a remark of Transportation Undersecretary Elmer Samiento on Tuesday that the Budget Department rejected the agency’s proposed ₱800-million funding for the construction of 36 ports next year.
“Per Section 17 B item 8 of the Local Government Code of the Philippines, and pursuant to the Supreme Court Ruling on the Mandanas-Garcia Case, the construction of local ports has already been devolved to the local government units,” the DBM told reporters via Viber on Tuesday.
The ruling, based on a petition of Batangas Governor Hermilando Mandanas and the late Bataan Governor Enrique Garcia, states that local governments must get 40% of all national taxes instead of only from those collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
The DBM noted that fish ports are among those decentralized to LGUs under the Local Government Code, along with “[i]nfrastructure facilities intended primarily to service the needs of the residents of the municipality including, but not limited to fish ports, among others.”
It added that the devolution transition plans submitted by the DOTr along with Department of Agriculture and the Department of Public Works and Highways in line with the SC ruling cover:
– development of locally funded social and tourism ports;
– operation of municipal fish ports in the city or for projects that cut across two or more barangays; and
– construction/improvement of access roads leading to airports/sea ports.
The DOTr’s proposed budget for 2023 is ₱167 billion. The total national expenditure plan is ₱5.268 trillion.
