Koko pushes 'hating-kapatid' on taxes by LGUs, nat'l gov't

Senator Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III, PDP Laban President, today rallied support for his bill which seeks to provide local government units (LGUs) a share from all the taxes and revenues collected by the entire national government.

In a speech before officials and employees of the City of Parañaque, Pimentel lamented that LGUs get only a share of the taxes collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) even if the Constitution itself states that LGUs must have a share "in the national taxes".

To rectify this, Pimentel said he filed Senate Bill 2987 in October last year which he called the "Bigger Pie, Bigger Slice Bill." The measure aims to amend Section 284 of the Local Government Code of 1991 on two important aspects.

Firstly, Pimentel said he wants a "bigger pie" on which internal revenue allocation of LGUs are computed by widening the tax base. Secondly, he said LGUs must have a "bigger slice" from that "bigger pie" vis-à-vis the national government.

"Currently the LGUs' IRA (internal revenue allocation) is based on the national internal revenue taxes' collected by the BIR" said Pimentel. "But the Constitution states that LGUs shall have a just share, as determined by law, in the national taxes which shall be automatically released to them."

The senator said his bill seeks to amend the phrase "national internal revenue taxes" into "national taxes" which refers to all taxes collected by the national government, including those from the Bureau of Customs, the Philippine Ports Authority, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Foreign Affairs, among others.

"The 'bigger slice' refers to the sharing between the national government and LGUs. Currently, the sharing is 60% to 40% in favor of the central or national government," he said.

"Under my proposal, the sharing would be hating kapatid, 50-50, between the National Government and the Local Governments."

If his bill is passed into law, Pimentel said Parañaque's Share in the National Taxes or SNT (it shall no longer be called IRA) would be P823,236,813 compared to the city's 2012 IRA share of P646,021,093 - an increase of P177,215,720.

"The benefits of the increased LGU share in the national taxes or SNT would also be extended all the way down to the barangays," Pimentel said.

"Since Parañaque City already knows how to use its current IRA for the maximum benefit of your people, just imagine how much good my 'Bigger Pie, Bigger Slice Bill' would do to your city if it becomes law," he concluded.