Senator has no formula yet on how to utilize proposed increase in locals’ IRA share

Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero on Tuesday proposed to increase to 50% the share of local government units (LGUs) in the national government’s internal revenue collection, from the current 40%, if he is elected president.

He said that the Constitution (in Article XI , Section 6) mandates that, “Local government units shall have a just share, as determined by law, in the national taxes which shall be automatically released to them.”

However, the share that LGUs currently get is based only on taxes collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue, when national taxes include customs duties.

Escudero said that the additional 10% in the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) share could either be given to well-performing LGUs, or be distributed across the board, regardless of LGU performance.

“The 10 percent increase in IRA could be an incentive, but the evaluation of LGUs should not be self-grading,” he said.

Penalty for delayed IRA
Escudero was among the 4 presidential aspirants who were engaged by outstanding mayors and governors in a one-on-one interview in Makati City. It was organized by the Institute for Popular Democracy, Synergeia Foundation, Galing Pook Foundation, Ateneo School of Government, and the Local Governance Support Program in ARMM.

The current sharing between the national government and LGUs is 60-40. The locals’ 40% is distributed as follows: 23% for provinces, 23% for cities, 34% for municipalities, and 20% for the barangays.

The IRA for each LGU is determined using this formula: population, 50%; land area, 25%; and equal sharing, 25%.

In August, Escudero filed Senate Bill 3381, which seeks to impose on the national government a penalty of 6% interest per year on the un-remitted portion of the IRA share of LGUs.

Shared responsibility
Speaking with reporters after the forum, Escudero called on Malacañang to advance the IRA share for 2010 of provinces in Central Luzon, of Metro Manila, and of Rizal so that they could make use part of it for relief operations in the wake of typhoon Ondoy.

Escudero also dismissed Environment Secretary Lito Atienza’s statement that he would file charges against local officials for failing to implement the Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, and therefore affectively caused the massive flooding in Metro Manila and surrounding provinces.

“He does not know what he is doing,” he told reporters. He said that the implementation of the said law is a “shared responsibility” between LGUs and the national government.

He said that LGUs could not be held liable for failing to dispose garbage properly if the national government is not willing to shell out a few more pesos for the establishment of sanitary landfills. (abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak)