THE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) denied opposition lawmaker Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas’s claim that the P10-billion Growth Equity Fund (GEF) in the proposed P5.024-trillion national budget for 2022 is a new form of pork barrel.
DBM Officer-In-Charge and Undersecretary Tina Canda said they stand by the legality of the GEF, which she said will be accessed by disadvantaged local government units (LGUs) to implement devolved functions and services from the national government
To mitigate the fiscal impact of the Mandanas ruling, certain functions of the national government will be fully devolved to LGUs not later than the end of 2024.
“It is not [a form of pork barrel],” Canda said in a message to BusinessMirror.
Brosas called the GEF a “lump-sum allocation that is open to abuse and politicking” if the local governments will not be identified.
But Canda stressed the need for the GEF, adding that the legislature can even include conditions for the release of the fund given Congress’ power of the purse.
“She [Brosas] is free to call it whatever she wants. Actually the amount is for the use of the 4th-5th-6th class municipalities for them to be on a par with other LGUs in terms of planning and project implementation. They are the ones which can access this fund,” Canda said.
Apart from the municipalities, economic managers also want to distribute a portion of the funds to some provinces.
Last week, the Department of the Interior and Local Government Director Annaliza F. Bonagua said in a forum that the members of the Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) plan to allocate 70 percent of the P10 billion or P7 billion to 258 poor and disadvantaged municipalities and the remaining 30 percent of the total or P3 billion to 16 provinces under the proposed GEF.
For LGUs getting GEF, this would be on top of their NTA allocation. However, Bonagua said this allocation of the GEF has yet to be presented in the next meeting of the Commission on Devolution (ComDev).
Under Executive Order 138, ComDev is tasked to propose a GEF to Congress to address issues on marginalization, unequal development, high poverty incidence, and disparities in the net fiscal capacities of LGUs.
Chaired by the secretaries of the Department of Budget and Management and the DILG, ComDev also has the secretaries of the National Economic and Development Authority, the Department of Finance, Executive Secretary, and the presidents of the leagues of local government units (LGUs) as its members.
While the eligibility criteria for the GEF has yet to be finalized, Bonagua said the estimated GEF allocation was pro-rated based on poverty incidence and per capita NTA for the fiscal year 2022 based on the 2020 Census of Population.
Citing the latest estimates, Bonagua said the government is eyeing to allocate an average amount of P187.5 million to 16 provinces, and an average of P27.1 million to 258 municipalities for the 2022 GEF.
Based on the proposed 2022 national budget, local government units’ NTA share is P959 billion, higher by around 38 percent compared to the previous year’s share.
The Supreme Court’s Mandanas ruling expanded the basis for the computation of Internal Revenue Allotment—now called National Tax Allotment—to include collections not only of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, but also customs duties collected by the Bureau of Customs, a part of taxes collected in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, taxes from the exploitation of national wealth, excise tax on tobacco products and other taxes provided in the National Internal Revenue Code and franchise taxes.