Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 16) — Local government units (LGUs) will have more autonomy in managing projects and resources when the “full devolution” starts, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said on Wednesday.
Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said the transfer of functions from the national government to the local governments would be good for the LGUs as they would have more autonomy in managing projects and resources with the increase in their national tax allotment (NTA) shares
“Ang advantage po ay ‘yung proper identification ng mga proyekto because sila (LGUs) po ‘yung nakakaalam kung ano talaga ang kailangan nung kanilang mga nasasakupan, so I think this will be beneficial for them,” she said in a statement.
[Translation: The advantage is the proper identification of projects because the LGUs know what their people need, so I think this will be beneficial for them.]
In the Mandanas-Garcia ruling, the Supreme Court corrected the basis of the just share of LGUs in the national taxes, which increased the resources transferred to the LGUs.
Consistent with the Local Government Code of 1991, the amount of LGU shares in the national taxes for a given fiscal year is based on the collection of the third fiscal year preceding the current fiscal year.
Section 2.2.1 of Local Budget Memorandum No. 85 states that the total 2023 NTA shares of LGUs shall be based on the actual collections of national taxes in 2020, as certified by the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Bureau of Customs, and Bureau of the Treasury.
The DBM chief said the agency will provide technical assistance and will perform oversight functions over the LGUs to ensure proper budgeting and expenditure management practices.
