Nelson Morales

Senator Ralph Recto answers questions in front of Trillanes' office at the Senate in Pasay, Wednesday, September 05, 2018. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

Share of LGUs from national tax collections to rise in 2027, Recto says

Jervis Manahan

ABS-CBN News

MANILA — The share of local governments from national tax collections will reach P1.32 trillion in 2027, from P1.19 trillion this year, the Office of the Executive Secretary said Wednesday.In a news release, Executive Secretary Ralph Recto said &quot;the non-partisan, formula-based formula that it will be disbursed” will be highlighted in next month’s State of the Nation Address by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.“As a former local executive official himself, the President sees and honors these as people’s entitlements. These are guaranteed plowbacks that will go from big cities to the remotest barangays,“ Recto said.Officially called National Tax Allotments or NTA, the amount for 2027 is based on the 2024 internal revenue collections, or three years prior, as mandated by law.“That indexation is set in stone, beyond alteration. As such, they are in the nature of automatic appropriations,” Recto said. “Ang sabi kasi ng batas at mga reglamento na ang dividends ng mga lokal na pamahalaan ay batay sa koleksyon ng mga pambansang buwis,&quot; he added.The amount will be &quot;one of the biggest ticket items” in the proposed 2027 national budget that the Department of Budget and Management is finalizing. Under the Constitution, the President has a month after he has delivered his State of the Nation Address (SONA) to submit next year’s national budget to Congress. The SONA this year falls on Monday, July 27.Under the established formula in NTA allocation, Recto said 83 provinces will share among themselves P303.56 billion; 149 cities, P303.56 billion; 1,491 towns, P448.84 billion; and 41,912 barangays, P263.97 billion, citing a DBM memorandum.An LGU’s share will be primarily determined by its population and land area.Among the cities, Davao City received the largest allocation of P10.1 billion in 2026, or almost 15% higher than last year’s.In NCR, the biggest recipients for 2026 included Quezon City (P9.82 billion, 15 percent increase), Manila (P 6.09 billion, 14 percent increase), Caloocan City (P 5.5 billion, 14 percent increase), Taguig City (P 4.40 billion, 18 percent increase), and Pasig City (P 3.05 billion, 17 percent increase). &quot;So next year, may increase na naman hindi lang sila, pero lahat ng LGU,” he saidAs to the funding source of the NTA, P990.68 billion will come from the Bureau of Internal Revenue collections, P329.09 billion from the Bureau of Customs collections and P63.6 million from other collections certified by the Bureau of the Treasury.On top of the NTA, President Marcos initiated the increase of the Local Government Support Fund (LGSF) to a record high of P57.87 billion for 2026.“The conventional and traditional thinking is that the NTA for LGUs is enough. But the President said we should tap the expertise and resources of LGUs in implementing national projects and programs,“ he said.&quot;In many meetings, he said that treating national government projects as separate from local government projects is a false dichotomy. Kaya may pivot sa LGU, na gawing katuwang sila sa mga pagpapatupad ng mga proyekto,” he said.

The share of local governments from national tax collections will reach P1.32 trillion in 2027.

The share of local governments from national tax collections will reach P1.32 trillion in 2027.