IRA of Cebu, Bohol expected to double under federal government

CEBU, Philippines —  The projected Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) for Cebu and Bohol will be doubled if the country will adopt the Federal Constitution.

In 2017, Central Visayas has an IRA of P29.7 billion. With the Federal Constitution providing that the regional confederation will get 50 percent of its collected national revenues, an additional P30.65 billion can be added on top of the current IRA.

“Region VII, without Negros, will get a minimum of P60 billion that you will control,” said Senior Technical Officer Wendell Adrian Tamayo of the Consultative Committee (ConCom).

He explained that under a federal government, the go signal from the Department of Finance and the Department of Budget and Management will no longer be needed before the regions can use their share of the national revenues.

IRA is the LGU’s share of revenues from the national government. National revenues come from taxes such as income tax, excise tax, value added tax, and tariffs.

This is one of the highlights for Central Visayas presented during a Federal Constitution forum last Friday afternoon attended by local government unit officials across the province ranging from barangay, city, municipal, and provincial leaders.

The draft constitution presented was formed by the ConCom which is mandated by President Rodrigo Duterte through his Executive Order No. 10 early this year.

The draft has been received and "approved in toto" by the president last July 9 according to Tamayo.

The Presidential Legislative Liaison Office (PLLO) said that this is the first time the draft has been presented in a forum after it was submitted to the president.

Aside from the provisions on the budget, two senators from Cebu and Bohol are also assured because there will be two elected senators per region. Under the federal government, there will be 16 symmetrical regions and two asymmetrical regions namely the Cordilleras and the Bangsamoro.

LGUs will also get 50 percent of the income from natural resources like the oil extraction in Alegria town.

Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III urged the leaders to read the copies of the draft Federal Constitution so they may be able to explain to their constituents what is in it.

This will help the citizens make informed decisions should there be a plebiscite.  — MBG (FREEMAN)