National government needs bigger funds, too, he says

If elected president, Senator Manuel Villar Jr. will work on improving the internal revenue collection of the national government, so it can allocate more for local government units (LGUs) without having to revise the sharing scheme between the 2 levels of governments.

In a forum with mayors and governors on Tuesday, Villar also urged LGUs to first maximize their local tax base, and tap international agencies and donors for assistance, before asking the national government for more funds.

Currently, LGUs get 40% of the internal revenue allotment (IRA); the rest goes to the national government. There have been proposals from the local government sector to either give LGUs a share in the collection of other revenue-generating agencies (like the Bureau of Customs) or to increase their share in the IRA to 50%, or even up to 70%.

The IRA covers up to 90% of the operational expenses of most LGUs. For 2009, P250 billion has been allocated as the IRA share of local provinces, cities, municipalities, and barangays.

Bigger collection
“Dapat ay palakihin muna ang resources na paghahatian; napakaliit ng pie (We should first increase the resources that we are going to divide; the pie is too small),” Villar said during his one-hour turn in the series of one-on-one interviews by local leaders with 4 presidential aspirants.

The other bets interviewed were Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, and Senators Francis Escudero and Benigno Aquino III.

While many LGUs complain of inadequate funds, Villar explained that the national government have limited revenues, too. This is evident in the insufficient budget for state colleges and universities, poor healthcare, and the armed forces’ outdated facilities.

Villar said that the tax revenues the government generated in the early 1990s were higher compared to what the country is collecting at present.

During the time of President Fidel Ramos, tax collection reached 17%of the country’s gross domestic product, according to Villar. Under President Arroyo’s administration, the tax collected is only 13%of the GDP, or short of some P280 billion.

Maximum autonomy
He said that even if the percentage of the LGUs’ share in the IRA won’t increase under a Villar administration, he will provide “maximum autonomy” to local governments so that they will become less dependent on IRA.

Villar was applauded when he emphasized the need to instill accountability from national leaders down to the local executives.

He said that there should be a report card where the performance of government officials will be judged based on the policies they will institute and the projects they will implement, and not solely on general statements they release regarding pressing issues.

“When we say we built roads, classrooms, bridges, we should say how many. When we say we increase tax collection, we should say by how much,” Villar said explaining the criteria on measuring government officials’ accomplishments.

Incentives or rewards for officials who excel in managing their localities should not be limited to awards and citations; they should be given budget increases.

He, however, suggested that local executives who perform poorly should be advised about their standing and be encouraged to attend trainings on local governance.

Villar also said the pork barrel funds of lawmakers should be retained, but these should be used for priority development projects. As an example, he said, a president who prioritizes education should require that the pork barrel funds should be used only for education-related projects for one year. (Newsbreak)