By John Rizle L. Saligumba
Davao Today
DAVAO CITY — A Davao City councilor said the city’s internal revenue allocation (IRA) from the national budget has been reduced this year but the budget department claims that there has been no such reduction.
Councilor Danilo Dayanghirang said the city government was informed by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) last month of the reduction of IRA, brought about by the addition of a new city and transfer of a barangay, which takes up a portion of the IRA divided among cities and towns.
In the Local Government Code of 1991 (Republic Act No. 7160), local government units have a 40% share on national internal revenue taxes.This is further subdivided to provinces (23%), cities (23%), municipalities (34%) and barangays (20%).
Dayanghirang, who chairs the council’s committee on finance, said an estimated P13.8 million would be slashed from Davao City’s allocation, which he said would affect the city’s social service allocation.
“The demand for social services in the city is high,” said Dayanghirang, though he didn’t give a specific amount.
Many indigents and poor have been relying on the city government for support ranging from medical to social needs.
The councilor said the city’s budget for 2014 is pegged at P 5.1 billion, in which half of this amount is sourced from the IRA.
Dayanghirang said with this reduction, the city has to adjust by finding sources of revenues aside from local taxes, such as focusing on collecting real property taxes.
Another measure he is proposing is to “reflect” a new amount in the supplemental budget.
But the councilor also said they might propose adjustments in the “some administrative aspect.”
But the DBM Region 11 OIC-Director Maria Fe Jagna told Davao Today that there was no actual reduction, saying that Dayanghirang was only referring to a reduction in the projected allocation for 2014.
“There is no reduction as to the allocation that the city received. The amount is still higher this year than last year. What Councilor Dayanghirang referred to maybe the projected allocation which may change in time,” Jagna said.
Jagna explained that the calculation tends to be adjusted with the addition of a new city or town.
A news report cited a report from the City Council’s committee on finance report that the city received an IRA share of P 2.626 billion in 2013.
But the DBM website reported Davao City’s IRA share on the same year at P2.576 billion or around P214.7 million a month.
The DBM also reported that Davao City received 21 % of Davao Region’s IRA share of P 12 billion.
Asked for comment, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte proposed legislative remedies such as “expanding the cake” or the amount allocated for local government units. (John Rizle L. Saligumba/davoatoday.com)
davao city, duterte, internal revenue allotment, IRA, philippines
