National gov’t to oversee LGUs’ power, budget hike

EDITORIAL

The Supreme Court's (SC) Mandanas-Garcia decision and Executive Order 138, which expand the funding and autonomy of local government units to fulfill their roles and provide services to their residents, are now in force this year.
    Subsequent to the said 2019 SC ruling, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed EO 138 in June 2021 to mandate the national government’s full transfer of certain functions and devolution of programs and projects to LGUs.
    The Dept. of the Interior and Local Government and Dept. of Budget and Management made an effort to conduct webinars and engage LGUs and various stakeholders in a comprehensive discourse about the updates, experiences, varying perspectives, and prospective impacts of these nationwide changes.
    Participating in Mandanas-Garcia ruling and devolution conversation is part of the national and local governments’ commitment in the implementation of the devolution policy.
    The DILG, DBM and the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF) of the Dept. of Finance will also oversee the provision of capacity development interventions for local governments and shall develop the appropriate mechanisms to ensure efficient utilization of government resources.
    DILG Secretary Ed Año said oversight functions of the national government, focusing primarily on the development of policies, service delivery standards, capacity building, provision of technical assistance, and LGU compliance monitoring.
BLGF Acting Director Brenda Miranda told medai the bureau’s focus is to train the LGUs in their preparation for the devolution transition plan with respect to their financial matters.
    “Their resources would increase, because of the Mandanas ruling, but this also needs bigger responsibilities. So, kami yung nag-aassist sa kanila (we will assist them), together with DILG and DBM,” Miranda said in a news release on Thursday.
    “[Our focus is] capacity building, kasi yun din yung nasa EO 138 (because that is indicated in the EO 138). Capacity building under revenue generation and mobilization. Paano ba nila gagamitin yun [budget] (How will they use it) efficiently and effectively. Tinuturuan kasi namin sila [LGUs] ng (We train them about) Local Revenue Forecast. This will serve them to guide in the budgeting and expenditures decision,” she added.