Breaking the chains of NTA dependency

Jay A. Carizo Data from the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF) show 68% of the local government units (LGUs) in 2021 are considered dependent on the national tax allocation (NTA). But while NTA-dependency has some positive side, the mandate under Executive Order No. 138 to fully implement devolution and the sudden decrease in revenue …

Mandanas-Garcia Ruling and Opportunities for Electric Coops and Renewable Energy Adoption

Jay A. Carizo The Mandanas-Garcia Ruling, a consolidation of case numbers G.R. No. 199802 and G.R. No. 208488 filed in the Philippine Supreme Court, increases the income base for the computation of the national tax allocation (NTA) between the national and local governments. With the increased income base, along with a favorable increase in tax …

Surigao del Norte: DTP Toolkit

Local government units (LGUs) are usually required by national government agencies to fill-up numerous forms and templates covering plans, and progress as well as evaluation reports. Because this takes a significant portion of LGU personnel’s time, some would just fill-up the forms for compliance. The outputs, therefore, are usually mediocre and in most cases, the …

Catbalogan City: Project-based PPAs for DTP

With the Mandanas Ruling implementation, local government units (LGUs) are expecting additional functions and services that necessitate a corresponding increase in human resources. The Catbalogan City LGU of Samar Province, however, forecasts that because of the COVID-19 pandemic, its national tax allocation (NTA) will decrease starting in the fiscal year 2023. If the LGU will …

Alcala, Cagayan: “We have to step-up anyway.”

Hearing about the additional funding to be devolved to local government units (LGUs) as a result of the Mandanas-Garcia ruling made Mayor Cristina Antonio of Alcala, Cagayan excited. Mayor Tin, as her constituents better know her, thought that the increase in funding, especially for Alcala, would mean more projects to resolve their area’s environmental issues. …