P10-B fund to help poor towns do tasks delegated by gov’t

MANILA, Philippines — The government’s economic managers will lay down the guidelines on how low-income municipalities can access the P10-billion Growth Equity Fund (GEF), a new feature of the proposed 2022 national budget, according to an official of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

In a radio interview on Saturday, Budget Undersecretary Kim Robert de Leon maintained that the GEF could not be considered another form of pork barrel.

He was reacting to Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas who earlier warned that the fund could be open to abuse as a political tool. De Leon stressed that the GEF would not be a lump-sum fund that would be released without clear basis.

The GEF was created through Executive Order No. 138, which provided for the full devolution of certain functions of the executive branch to local governments. According to the executive order, it is meant to help “the poorest and least capable” local governments as they prepare for more and bigger responsibilities that will be delegated by the national government.

The full devolution of services will be implemented starting next year, pursuant to the Supreme Court’s Mandanas-Garcia ruling that allocated a higher share of state revenue for local governments.

The GEF will be made available to fourth, fifth and sixth class municipalities to help them in planning and project implementation.

“[The GEF] is meant to cover the funding requirements for programs, projects and activities of poor, disadvantaged, and lagging [local governments] to gradually enable the full and efficient implementation of the devolved functions and services,” said Budget Undersecretary Rolando Toledo, the DBM spokesperson.

258 beneficiaries

In his message in the proposed P5.02-trillion 2022 national expenditure plan that was submitted to Congress, President Duterte said at least 16 provinces and 258 municipalities would benefit from the GEF.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government is expected to identify the beneficiaries soon.

“The Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee is supposed to approve the guidelines for the use of the Growth Equity Fund. There are now discussions on the formula for how this would be divided and which local government units would be eligible to receive this,” De Leon said in an interview with the Presidential Communications Operations Office.

Earlier reports said the GEF allocation among the target municipalities would be pro-rated based on their poverty incidence and National Tax Allotment (NTA) per capita for 2022.

De Leon said the GEF was especially intended to help those with a high poverty incidence get through the transition period and eventually stand on their own feet.

No pressure

National government agencies to be affected by the devolution are given until Sept. 30 to submit a three-year transition plan, which identifies which among their functions or services can be turned over to local governments.

The plans will be reviewed by the DBM to ensure that they are aligned with national policies.

Among the functions to be transferred to local governments are those related to agriculture and infrastructure programs, as well as social welfare and health services.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said there was no reason for the public to be worried about the transition.

The process, he said, would be done gradually and local governments would not be pressured to handle their additional responsibilities all at once.

“While they are not yet ready, the national agencies will continue implementing some programs and projects until the final phase is reached and these [functions] are fully devolved,” he said.

The P10-billion GEF is separate from the local government’s NTA, which was estimated at P959 billion for 2022, up from their internal revenue allotment of P648.92 billion for this year.