Senate bill to boost LGU autonomy

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Francis Escudero is proposing amendments to Republic Act 7160, or the Local Government Code of 1991, to strengthen the autonomy of local government units (LGUs), particularly on the use of their revenue allotments and delegating more powers to them.

To support the autonomy of LGUs, Escudero has filed a bill which seeks to prohibit “any form of interference” by the national government on the use of the national tax allotment – previously termed as Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) – and other locally generated revenues.

He said the filing of the measure along with related measures was part of his campaign promise to be the “voice of the LGUs” in the Senate by ensuring that they are genuinely empowered and autonomous as mandated in the 1987 Constitution and RA 7160.

“Based on my experience as a governor (of Sorsogon), our local officials know so much more on how to run their respective jurisdictions,” Escudero said in Filipino.

“They know what’s happening on the ground and they know what’s best for their constituents. Certainly, they are also more knowledgeable than any government officials who are just issuing directives and orders from their air-conditioned offices in Manila,” he said.

Among the amendments to the Local Government Code the senator is proposing is the “effective allocation among the different local government units of their respective powers, functions, responsibilities and resources independent of any restrictions from the national agencies” under the proposed “Act to Further Strengthen Local Autonomy Through a More Rationalized System of Decentralization.”

He also pushed for the establishment in every LGU of an “independent, accountable, efficient and dynamic organizational structure and operating mechanism that will meet the priority needs and service requirements of its communities.”

For local autonomy to be made effective, it must amount to effective authority for LGUs to decide matters concerning internal affairs, Escudero said.

The authority of LGUs may not be absolute, but the parameters limiting its exercise must not give the national government the power to restrict their actions of or to substitute its judgment with their own, he said.

The proposed “Act Prohibiting Any Form of Interference by National Government Agencies with the Use of the National Tax Allotment and Locally Generated Revenues of Local Government Units” – or the “No Interference Bill” – mandates all agencies of the national government not to issue or execute any rules or regulations “in the form of memoranda, circulars, orders, resolutions, guidelines or any other issuances in the performance of their respective statutory functions and duties that shall interfere, in any form, with the use of the National Tax Allotment and locally generated revenues of LGUs.”