Pimentel pushes ‘hating kapatid’ in taxes for LGUs

Maila Ager

INQUIRER.net

12:58 PM | Monday, March 30th, 2015


MANILA, Philippines – Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III on Monday sought bipartisan support for his proposed measure that would give local government units (LGUs) “expanded and bigger” shares from national taxes.

Known as the “Bigger Pie, Bigger Slice” bill, Pimentel said the measure seeks to change the limited internal revenue allocations (IRAs) of LGUs into “expanded and bigger shares” from national taxes.

The change, he said, would give LGUs a larger share of 50 percent from the current 40 percent of the total tax collections that would include both revenues collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs.

“The new formula means more available funds for more benefits and better services made available to more people, and envisioned to result in more positive quality of life changes in the lives of more Filipinos,” the senator said in a statement.

“Hating kapatid,” said Pimentel of the proposed 50-50 formula between the national government and LGUs in keeping with the constitutional mandate to give the latter an equitable share from the national wealth.

On April 14 to 16, the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP), which has 1,490 members, will hold its 2015 General Assembly at the Manila Hotel to press Congress, among others, to prioritize the proposed measure.

Pimentel said the municipal mayors are expected to make an appeal to President Benigno Aquino III, who has been invited as guest of honor and speaker, to make the bill an urgent and certified measure of Congress.

If passed into law, he said the bill would contribute greatly in the empowerment of LGUs “because the added funds would translate to LGUs’ ability to provide more services and offer more opportunities to their constituents.”

“All these substantial increases in funding are meant to benefit the LGUs and their constituencies,” said the senator, adding that it would mean more schools, better health care, more sustainable livelihood projects and more jobs.

Pimentel said the bill was envisioned to practically double the annual automatic allocations of LGUs, namely the barangays, municipalities, cities and provinces, from the general appropriations act. CB



Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/682306/pimentel-pushes-hating-kapatid-in-taxes-for-lgus#ixzz3VqU9pRFS 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Alternative to Oposa

I do not mean to suggest that the Philippine Supreme Court has abandoned the environment. Sometimes the solutions to our problems need not be remedies that straddle generations or excite international attention. There is still one alternative that the Supreme Court has preserved: local governments. Local governments in the Philippines are not all allies of the environment. Too many local officials equate economic development with large-scale resource extraction activities such as mining and logging. But when cases reach the Supreme Court, the Court has been remarkably supportive of local governments and community efforts to protect the environment. Two decisions of the Court come to mind. The first is Tano v Socrates (G.R. No. 110249, August 21, 1997). In that case the Supreme Court upheld the power of the local governments to enact laws to protect the environment pursuant to the general welfare clause of the Local Government Code of 1991. The Court pointed out that the Code seeks “to...
Read more

Local government avalanche is Congress' fault

A recent Newsbreak report, GMA Creating Too Many LGUs , by Miriam Grace Go (August 22, 2007), unfairly blames President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for the increase in the number of local government units in the Philippines. This increase, particularly in the case of cities has been going on ever since the Local Government Code of 1991 took effect. It is encouraged by two features of the Code: (a) the formula for the distribution of the internal revenue allotment that favors cities, and (b) the relative ease in making cities. Politicians determined to increase the financial resources of their governments have been campaigning to upgrade into cities ever since they discovered these weaknesses in the Code. In 1986, there were 73 provinces, 60 cities, and 1,530 municipalities in the country. Just before the Estrada administration collapsed, there were already 110 cities. On March 5, 2001, less than two months into office, President Arroyo signed 14 bills on the conversion of municipalities i...
Read more

Clinton: End Game

Image
Senator Hillary Clinton's bid for the White House has ended and even she knows it. The math has not been in her favor for some time now. She tried to run on her strengths as a US Senator and her "34 years of experience" in government service to no avail. Her record could not stand up to Senator Obama's charm. She was unlikable; he was eloquent, even enchanting. His record is not so bad either. She was part of the old Washington crowd that was part of the problem. Obama was a fresh face who promised change "we can believe in." So Clinton tried different angles. She tried drama by shedding tears and launching sharp angry attacks against Obama. She tried comedy--by doing the comedy circuit on television. She tried adventure by claiming to have survived sniper fire during a visit to Bosnia. All these tricks worked a little; it kept the campaign alive, if barely. They tried to change the rules--bring in Florida and Michigan despite the fact that they were penaliz...
Read more