Atin Ito First Filipino Community Newspaper in Ontario
Following the mandate of the post-EDSA People Power 1987 Constitution, Congress enacted the Local Government Code, Republic Act No. 7160, on Oct. 10, 1991, or more than three decades ago. The Constitution declared that the territorial and political subdivisions of the country are the provinces, cities, municipalities, and barangays; and that there shall be autonomous regions in Muslim Mindanao and the Cordilleras: “(They) shall enjoy genuine and meaningful local autonomy to enable them to attain their fullest development as self-reliant communities and make them more effective partners in the attainment of national goals.”
The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) was established in 2019, culminating decades of evolution and transition. Full autonomy for the Cordillera Administration Region (CAR) was rejected in plebiscites held in 1990 and 1998.
Several efforts have been mounted to amend the Code, primarily focused on increasing the financial capacity of the local government units (LGUs). The most significant development was the Supreme Court ruling on petitions filed by Batangas Governor Hermilando Mandanas and former Bataan Governor Enrique Garcia, Jr. The High Court ruled in 2018 that the just share of LGUs from the national taxes is not limited to national internal revenue taxes collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) but all national taxes which include collections of customs duties by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and other collecting agencies.
To implement this landmark decision, then President Rodrigo Duterte issued Executive Order No. 138. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has directed the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to further fine-tune its implementation, observing that lower class communities would be at a disadvantage if functions are devolved to them. He emphasized that a one-size-fits-all approach is unrealistic, given the wide band of income disparity among, for instance, third-class municipalities. The DBM expects to present a draft executive order for the President’s approval before the end of the year.
Worthy of recognition are continuing initiatives to raise the bar of excellence in local governance.
Republic Act No. 11292 passed in 2019 confers the Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) on LGUs that pass criteria for excellence in the following aspects: financial administration and sustainability; disaster preparedness; social protection and sensitivity; health compliance and responsiveness; sustainable education; business-friendliness and competitiveness; safety, peace and order; environmental management; tourism, heritage development, culture and arts; and youth development. Last year, 350 LGUs, or about 20 percent of the total, merited this seal of excellence.
Concerned local executives have taken the initiative to form the Mayors for Good Governance (M4GG) coalition. Launched last August at the University of the Philippines’ Diliman campus, the coalition now counts the support of more than 100 city and municipal mayors, out of the 149 cities and 1,485 municipalities in the country.
Aside from affirming the key principles of the SGLG, Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, chief convenor, has emphasized the importance of attaining high standards of integrity and transparency. The principal objective is to unshackle LGUs from the tentacles of graft and corruption that drains vital resources for lifting millions of impoverished Filipinos from poverty.
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Credit belongs to: www.mb.com.ph
