Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 22) — The national government is studying the impact of an order mandating the devolution of certain executive branch functions to local governments, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Wednesday.
Marcos, pertaining to Executive Order No. 138, made the comment during a gathering of the country’s municipal mayors earlier in the day.
“Gagamitin ngayon namin itong one year na ito para pag-aralan nang mabuti ‘yung [EO] 138. Tingnan natin na siguro may mga function kasi na binibigay sa local, hindi naman dapat sa local talaga,” Marcos said in his speech at the general assembly of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines.
[Translation: We’re giving ourselves this one year to study EO 138 carefully. We’ll check if there are functions given to local governments that shouldn’t be in the first place.]
Former President Rodrigo Duterte issued EO 138 in June 2021 to aid the efficient implementation of the Supreme Court (SC) ruling on the Mandanas-Garcia case.
The decision – which resulted from the petition made by Batangas Gov. Hermilando Mandanas and former Bataan Gov. Enrique Garcia, Jr. before the SC – affirms that LGUs are entitled to a “just share” of all collected national taxes, not just state internal revenue tax collections.
“And so that’s what we are examining… we are taking very seriously the issues that have come out from the Mandanas ruling and how we will implement it,” Marcos said.
The chief executive added they have to coordinate and synchronize activities for both local and national levels.
