THE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) denied Thursday the allegation of Vice President Jejomar Binay that the government withheld the Internal Revenue Allotment shares of the local government units in 2013.
Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said the IRA shares are immediately and 100 percent released to respective LGUs at the start of every year, without any conditions or actions required on their part.
"In 2013, P302.8 billion was released to LGUs on January 10, contrary to the claim of Vice President Jejomar Binay that IRA releases to local governments were withheld or delayed that time," he said.
Since 2012, the DBM has been automatically and comprehensively releasing the IRA of LGUs, which is better than the one mandated by the 1991 Local Government Code requiring releases to be made only "on a quarterly basis" (as referenced in Title III, Section 286).
"We do not withhold these appropriations and they have always been released without condition or delay. All agency transactions between the DBM and LGUs in 2013 have been properly documented," said Abad.
Under the current process, the DBM helps in facilitating the release of the appropriation by computing the IRA share of LGUs based on the formula provided by the Local Government Code of 1991 and data on collections submitted by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
Abad said the DBM's responsibility to administer the funds is based on Section 10 (2), Chapter 4, Title XVII of Executive Order (EO) No. 292 series 1987, which states that the Local Government Budget Bureau "shall recommend and effect the release of the National Assistance for Local Government Units." (SDR/Sunnex)