DBM to appeal ruling on LGU share from national taxes

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said it would appeal the Supreme Court ruling that allowed local government units (LGUs) to source their share of internal revenue allotment (IRA) from “all” national taxes.

“We estimate that if it’s going to be honored in fiscal year 2019, it will cost us about P160 billion. So the usual estimate of P1.2 trillion to P6 trillion, that’s now off because the decision is it is prospective,” Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno told the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum on Wednesday.

A prospective implementation of the ruling means that the national budget for next year should have an additional P160 billion on top of the P575.5 billion in LGUs’ IRA shares from national internal revenue taxes collected in 2016.

But Diokno said that since President Duterte already submitted to Congress the proposed P3.757-trillion budget for 2019, “it’s too late to insert” the P160 billion.

“So the DBM, in coordination with the Office of the Solicitor General, will file a motion for reconsideration within 15 days,” Diokno added. —Ben O. de Vera