INFO ROLLOUT. Franklin Gumapon, the Regional Development Council in Northern Mindanao committee chairperson on communications and advocacy, presents Tuesday (May 31, 2022) the group’s plan for information dissemination. He said the move forms part of Executive Order 138 mandating the creation of a devolution committee based on the Supreme Court's Mandamus-Garcia ruling, paving the way for the transfer of several major services and budgets from the national agencies to the local government units. (Screengrab)
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—The Regional Development Council in Northern Mindanao (RDC-10) on Tuesday approved the communications plan for the “Mandanas-Garcia” devolution setup for local government units (LGUs) in the region.
The approval by the RDC-10 Regional Communications and Advocacy Committee included information and education activities for LGUs and other public sectors so that they are better apprised of the devolution's advantages and the changes it brings.
“We will organize town hall meetings and information caravans; we can have that in a face-to-face setting if Covid-19 protocols allow us,” Franklin Gumapon, the committee chair, said.
Gumapon, who is also the Philippine Information Agency-10 director, said the region’s Association of Government Communicators will also be tapped as partners in the plan's implementation.
The Mandanas-Garcia ruling was the Supreme Court's decision from the motion filed by then Batangas Rep. Hermilando Mandanas and Bataan Gov. Enrique Garcia Jr. in 2013.
Mandanas and Garcia appealed that LGUs should have a bigger share of Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) from the taxes collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue, including that from the Bureau of Customs.
Under Executive Order 138, the government created a devolution committee with the Department of Budget and Management, as chair and the Department of the Interior and Local Government, National Economic Development Authority, and the Department of Finance.
The league of provinces, cities, municipalities, and barangays are also part of the committee as members.
During his visit to the city this earlier month, DBM Assistant Secretary Achilles Gerald Bravo urged national government agencies (NGAs) and LGUs to finalize their respective devolution transition plans.
This was essential, Bravo said, in the full implementation of the Mandanas-Garcia ruling relative to the local government code on tax revenue sharing.
Not all services from NGAs will be devolved or carried out by the LGUs, he said, pointing out that transition plans will outline specific services to be transferred between the two entities.
“The transition plans of the NGAs will be submitted to DBM for review; for LGU transition plans will be reviewed by DILG,” he said.
Before the Mandanas-Garcia ruling, the IRA stood at PHP695 billion for all the country's LGUs. Currently, however, the National Tax Allotment (NTA) for 2022 is at PHP773 billion, or a 37.8 percent increase, Bravo said.
He said the IRA is now referred to as the NTA for LGUs since January this year. (PNA)
