A massive campaign to collect 5 million
signatures calling for the restoration of the P30 billion cut in the year 2000 budget for
local government units (LGUs) started today (Dec. 13) as local officials nationwide
mounted protest actions in a bid to convince the Senate not to deprive LGUs of their full
internal revenue allocation (IRA).
"Sa Ikauunlad ng Bayan, IRA Huwag
Bawasan!" was the battlecry adopted by 1.2 million-strong Union of Local Authorities
of the Philippines (ULAP), the confederation of all leagues of local officials led by
Laguna Gov. Joey Lina, as it decried the unconstitutionality of the IRA cut decided by the
Senate finance committee.
"Depriving LGUs of the full IRA is
depriving our people of the most basic services as guaranteed in our Constitution and
provided by the 1991 Local Government Code," said Ulap’s position paper
expressing the sentiments of all local officials from the 78 provinces, 83 cities, 1,452
municipalities, and all 42,000 barangays throughout the country.
Reports pouring into ULAP’s Manila
office indicated that protests against the IRA cut has shifted into high gear in various
provinces particularly in Abra, Bulacan, Laguna, Camarines Sur and Southern Leyte and in
key cities in Luzon and Visayas.
The protest actions include the wearing of
black ribbons by local officials and employees and the draping of local government
buildings with black cloth to symbolize mourning over the IRA cut, and mass rallies at
provincial capitols.
A demonstration by local officials and
employees from Metro Manila and neighboring provinces will be held tomorrow (Dec. 14) in
front of the Philippine Coconut Authority Complex in Quezon City, the site of the
bicameral conference. Simultaneous rallies will also be held in key areas nationwide.
In the position paper, ULAP officials said
the P30 billion cut which is about 26 percent of the entire IRA share of LGUs "runs
counter to the spirit of the Constitution that guarantees local autonomy and the 1991
Local Government Code that calls for a 40 percent share for LGUs in the actual internal
revenue tax collections three years prior to the current fiscal year."
Lina, a former senator, explained that
Congress cannot just amend a substantive law (Sec. 284 of the 1991 LG Code) by passing a
general appropriations law. A special law is required, he said.
He added the cut "fails to appreciat e
that LGUs provide frontline government services and deliver the most basic needs of our
people, from primary health care to social services, from agricultural services to
infrastructure projects, from education to livelihood promotion, and all other functions
devolved from the national government.