MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews/26 July) – From the country’s P302.3 billion Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) for 2013, local government units in Bukidnon will get around P4.7 billion.
The amount, based on Local Budget Memorandum No. 66 dated July 2 but only presented yesterday, includes the IRA of the provincial government, its two
cities and 20 towns.
In 2011, Bukidnon – including its 2 cities and 20 municipalities – received a total of P4.486 billion.
This year, due to a cut, the province was expecting to receive a total of only P4.272 billion.
The cut this year was due to the five percent shortfall in national revenue generation in 2009, which was the basis for the computation of the IRA for 2012.
Local government units in Bukidnon will lose a total of about P213.8 million in 2012, according to a memorandum circular released in 2011 by Budget and Management Secretary Florencio B. Abad.
The provincial government of Bukidnon is getting an additional P160 million in IRA for 2013, boosting its annual budget for next year. The provincial government’s IRA was pegged at P1.4098 billion for next year.
The 20 towns will divide a total of P1.999 billion and the two cities will share a total of P1.272 billion.
Malaybalay City will get an increase of about P64.7 million, bringing its IRA to P708.9 million. Valencia City will get an additional P58 million for a
total IRA of P563 million for next year.
Board member Ranulfo Pepito, chair of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan
appropriations committee, presented to colleagues Wednesday the 2013 IRA for Bukidnon.
Vice Gov. Jose Ma. R. Zubiri Jr. said the increase in IRA is nationwide in scope.
The document showed that the IRA increase includes the country’s 16 new cities, which became subject of a legal battle.
The LGUs IRA share in 2013 is 10.61 percent higher than the P273.31 billion allocated for this year.
The country’s 80 provinces will share P70.886 billion; 140 cities will share P69.057 billion; 1,482 municipalities will share P103.195
billion; and 41,890 barangays will share P59.166 billion. (Walter I. Balane/MindaNews)