Gearing towards implementing the Supreme Court’s Mandanas-Garcia ruling in 2022, DILG-NCR conducted the first of its series of dialogue with its personnel last February 4.
The Mandanas-Garcia ruling resulted from the petition made by Batangas Governor Hermilando Mandanas and former Bataan Governor Enrique Garcia Jr. before the Supreme Court on local government shares on internal revenue allotment (IRA).
According to the petitioners, LGU shares should include all national taxes. The Supreme Court affirmed that local government units are entitled to a “just share” on all national taxes collected and not only from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
At present, LGU’s IRA comes from 40% of national internal revenue taxes collected by the BIR. With the Mandanas-Garcia ruling implementation in 2022, it is projected that LGUs will have a 27.61% increase in the total IRA shares.
The Mandanas-Garcia ruling conversation is part of DILG-NCR preparations to fulfill its role, functions, and services to fully implement the ruling in 2022 and contribute to the crafting of the DILG transition plan.
Regional Director Maria Lourdes Agustin emphasized the importance of capacitating DILG-NCR personnel on the Mandanas-Garcia ruling as the main actors in its implementation. She shared that the office will conduct regular meetings with local chief executives to get their insights.
OIC-Assistant Regional Director Atty. Ana Lyn Baltazar-Cortez and concurrent Legal Unit Chief and DILG Quezon City Cluster Head Atty. Raymond Alcantara discussed the salient provisions of the Mandanas-Garcia ruling, its impact, as well as the features of the draft executive order on full devolution.
Meanwhile, Local Government Capacity Development Division Chief Helen Verzosa presented DILG Department Order 2020-609 creating the DILG Transition Management Committee and Subcommittees tasked to lead and mobilize efforts to implement the Supreme Court Mandanas-Garcia Ruling.
DILG-NCR also created an online survey platform for its personnel to solicit insights and suggestions to capacitate the organization to implement the said ruling. #