MACABEBE -- The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) is set to release more than half a billion-peso grant to local government units (LGUs) in Pampanga to boost their capacity to immediately respond to the existing health emergency in the country.
This was gleaned in the Local Budget Circular issued by DBM on April 7 which provided guidelines for the release and utilization of the Bayanihan Grant to Cities and Municipalities (BGCM).
The financial grant is part of the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act which provided emergency powers to President Rodrigo Duterte to adopt various temporary emergency measures to respond to crisis brought about by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, including augmenting the resources of LGU.
Under BGCM, provincial governments shall be granted the equivalent of half of its monthly Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA), while city and municipal governments with the equivalent of one month of its IRA.
In particular, the provincial government of Pampanga is granted P115,597,519, while the cities of Angeles (P88,351,768), Mabalacat (P65,834,577) and San Fernando (P73,061,938) have a total subsidy of P227,248,283.
Meanwhile, breakdown for every municipalities in Pampanga are Apalit – P20,610,919; Arayat – P25,652,809; Bacolor – P10,250,062; Candaba – P22,933,913; Floridablanca – P25,004,358; Guagua – P21,598,608; Lubao – P30,178,799; Macabebe – P16,351,764; Magalang – P21,957,743; Masantol – P12,592,256; Mexico – P28,634,932; Minalin – P11,156,981; Porac – P27,014,017; San Luis – P12,270,160; San Simon - 12,139,049; Santa Ana – P12,173,534; Santa Rita - P9,838,465; Santo Tomas - 9,631,010; and Sasmuan – P8,800,162.
According to the BGCM guidelines, the grants shall be exclusively used by the cities and municipalities for Covid-19-related programs, projects, and activities (PPA) and expenses, such as for the operation of stand-alone/mobile testing laboratories, on the procurement of personal protective equipments, equipment and kits for Covid-19 testing,
Also allowed under the guidelines are purchase of medicines and vitamins, hospital equipment and supplies, disinfecting supply and misting equipment, food, transportation and accommodation expenses of medical personnel and other LGU personnel directly involved in the implementation of Covid-19 response, food assistance and other relief goods for affected households, and rental of temporary shelters for homeless constituents.
The grant, however, must not be utilized for PPAs that are not related to Covid-19 response.
Call granted
Meanwhile, the inclusion of subsidy to LGUs is a positive development to the call made earlier by Fourth District Representative Juan Pablo “Rimpy” Bondoc to release the shares of LGUs from all national taxes to fund efforts to fight Covid-19.
During the hearing for the We Heal as One Act, Bondoc urged his fellow solons to review the Supreme Court decision that ruled the national government should give the shares in 2022.
The SC decision, known as “Mandanas Ruling”, states that “LGUs have a rightful larger internal revenue entitlement as they deserve a share of all national government taxes.”
In his then privilege speech made through video conferencing, Bondoc said the release of funds will be substantially helpful to the LGUs’ fight against Covid-19.
“Instead of implementing it in 2022, let’s work to find a way to implement it as soon as possible. Our LGUs need these funds now, not in 2022,” Bondoc said.
In a statement, Bondoc said the BGCM is the fruit of his advocacy that LGUs be given financial assistance through the form of releasing their share from national government’s taxes.
“The Bayanihan Grant is more effective in my opinion than Local Government Support Fund-Assistance of the Department of Interior and Local Government as it can only be used for infrastructure purposes,” Bondoc said.