Tuesday, January 29, 2008 City: No half-mast for LGUs' protest By Grace L. Plata
ALTHOUGH the Davao City Government agrees with the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) position against a bill relaxing the requirement to transform a town into a city, it has not called on its employees to wear black armbands and to fly the Philippine flag at half-mast as a sign of protest as most LCP member-cities nationwide planned.
House Bill. No. 24 authored by Zamboanga Sibugay Second District Representative Ann Hofer exempts capital towns of provinces from the annual income requirement of P100 million to be qualified as a city.
The bill also states "that capital towns of provinces where there is no existing city shall be priority for conversion into component cities."
The LCP believes that the country has so much cities, it can barely afford to give the proper internal revenue allotment (IRA) for all these.
The League, composed of 120 cities nationwide, expressed fear that with a less stringent requirement for a town to become a city, internal revenue allotment (IRA) will further decrease for all cities.
For one, the LCP argued, if House Bill 24 becomes a law, there will be 27 new cities, which will further reduce the per capita IRA share of existing cities.
League members thus planned a "Black Monday", the first of which was Monday, wherein employees of their cities will be wearing black armbands. The Philippine flag will also be flown at half-mast to express their opposition to the bill.
However, City Administrator Wendel E. Avisado cannot do that, especially with regards the flag.
"Naay kaakuhan ang matag syudad unsaon pag tratar sa flag (Each city has its own responsibility in how to treat the flag). We have the Flag Code regulating the treatment and uses of the flag. Naa ni siya'y legal basis (There is a legal basis on how you treat flags)," Avisado said in Monday's interview.
Avisado added that any kind of protest should not be taken to the extent of desecrating the flag. Not only would it gain the cities nothing, it would also be a violation of a law.
However, Avisado expressed the city's strong support for LCP's call to have a moratorium on the creation of new cities saying it has already manifested its effects where Davao is concerned. In 2007 alone, 16 towns were converted into new cities.
These are: Bogo in Cebu, Catbalogan in Samar, Baybay in Leyte, Mati in Davao Oriental, Tabuk in Kalinga, Lamitan in Basilan, Borongan in Eastern Samar, Bayugan in Agusan del Sur, Tandag in Surigao del Sur, Batac in Ilocos Norte, Carcar in Cebu, Guihulngan in Negros Oriental, El Salvador in Misamis Oriental, Cabadbaran in Agusan del NOrte, Naga in Cebu, and Tayabas in Quezon.
The Local Government Code says that 40 percent of the national collection of taxes should be given to the Local Government Units (LGUs) through the IRA. The law also requires that 23 percent of the 40 percent should go to the 120 cities.
In 2008, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) released at least P210.7 billion as IRA share for all LGUs with P47.9 billion going to the 120 cities without the new cities.
With the new additions, the 2008 IRA was computed at 43.9 billion or about P4 billion less than P47.9 billion.
A letter from the LCP, which Avisado shared with the media, stated that Davao City's supposed IRA share for 2008 at 263 million pesos would be slashed by 194 million. Thus, the city will only be receiving an IRA share of 69 million pesos.
"Luckily for Davao, we did not include the IRA share as basis or source of funding for the city's 2008 budget, thus basic social services and the jobs of our city employees are secure and will not be affected," Avisado said.
Among the existing programs that will stay on track amidst the downgraded IRA share include the "Lingap Para sa Mahirap", Central 911, feeding programs, preventive medical services like immunization and livelihood programs.
To cushion the impact of the IRA share loss, Avisado instructed the city division heads during a meeting Monday to revisit major programs for implementation in 2008.
"This is to check whether we can finish or sustain the project within the already-approved budget since we cannot expect additional funding. Projects that are not pressing will definitely have to go," Avisado said.
On the other hand, Avisado said the LCP must submit a reiterative motion for an injunction to forestall passage of HB 24.
"This is a lesson of sorts. LGUs should not solely rely on the IRA. It must make efforts to generate local revenue," Avisado said.
Avisado added that it is indeed lucky for Davao City to have strengthened its efforts in local tax collection. In 2007, the city has surpassed its revenue projection by 2 percent or 51.7 million. The actual collection was P2.98 billion pesos.
Within January 2008, the Business Bureau collected P272.9 million in business renewals - a P62 million increase from the 2007 renewals amounting to P210.9 million.
