Isko: Local gov’ts get bigger role

FILE PHOTO: Manila City Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso. INQUIRER/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

Municipal, city and provincial governments should now play a bigger role in providing health care, housing and other social services to Filipinos, as these local governments now receive a larger share of tax revenues due to the Supreme Court’s Mandanas ruling, Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso said on Thursday.

The Aksyon Demokratiko standard-bearer said the national government should fully devolve functions like local infrastructure, revenue mobilization, employment facilitation, natural resources management and agricultural services to local governments.

Domagoso said local governments were now more empowered to manage and improve social services within their jurisdiction after more resources were allocated to them under the 2018 Supreme Court decision.

In that ruling, the high tribunal granted the petition of Batangas Gov. Hermilando Mandanas and former Bataan Gov. Enrique Garcia Jr. that the Internal Revenue Allotment of local governments should comprise 40 percent of all national taxes collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs.

Under the old system, the local governments’ share was taken only from BIR collections.

“In the case of Manila … we received an extra P1.5 billion because of the Mandanas ruling,” Domagoso said.