JV Ejercito pushes for automatic LGU income reclassification every two years
November 05, 2022
Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito has filed
a bill seeking to amend the Local Government Code of 1991 and institutionalize
the automatic reclassification of income generated by local government units
(LGUs).
Under Ejercito’s Senate Bill No. 1530,
automatic income reclassification among LGUs will take place every two years
based on an updated table of income classifications to be released by the
Bureau of Local Governance Finance (BLGF) of the Department of Finance (DOF).
“Sa pakikipagtulungan natin sa ating
counterpart sa House of Representatives Committee on Local Government at
Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), ating bibisatahin ang
mga probisyon ng Local Government Code nang sa gayon ay matulungan natin ang
mag LGUs, lalo na’t tuloy-tuloy ang implementasyon ng Mandanas-Garcia Ruling,”
he said in a statement.
BLGF Director Maria Pamela Quizon expressed
her support for Ejercito’s bill, which is one of the DOF’s priority measures in
the current Congress.
“The proposal will enable the DOF to
effectively and systematically determine an LGU’s financial capability and
fiscal position, which are reflective of the economy and the state of local
development,” she said.
Once this measure is passed, the Finance
Secretary, in consultation with the different LGU leagues, will have authority
to set the ranges of income for the automatic classification of all provinces,
cities, and municipalities.
Aside from determining the financial capacity
of an LGU to implement development programs and projects, the classification
scheme is also used to identify the kinds of financial aid and grants that an
LGU can receive, determine the salaries and other emoluments of local officials
and employees, limit the reclassification of local agricultural lands, among
others.
