MANILA, Philippines — With the best interest of all local government units (LGU) at heart, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Tuesday expressed its support to the Supreme Court's (SC) decision on the conversion of 16 municipalities into cities. This sentiment was echoed by DILG Secretary Jesse M. Robredo, who said that, "As head of the DILG, I am tasked to promote the welfare of all local governments. So whatever the decision of the SC, I will support it."
Robredo stressed that the law should be applied in the case of the 16 municipalities (now cities), which have endured several litigations just to be converted into cities.
“Let us comply with the requirements of the law," he said. "Personally, I’m not against the conversion proceedings but they must comply with the requirements. Pag hindi sila nag-comply, hindi naman talaga sila qualified (If they didn't comply, then they won't be qualified).”
Robredo has observed that one of the issues of the coversion lay with the internal revenue allotment (IRA) share received by the LGUs. As a mathematics whiz, Robredo easily deducted that cities get a bigger chunk of the IRA, and this is probably the reason why the municipalities were pushing to become cities.
“(Under the policy on IRA share) 23 percent is divided by 120 cities, 30 percent is divided by 1,400 towns. Kung ikaw ay nasa munisipyo, at naghahati-hati 1,400, lipat ka na sa 120 na mag-hahati sa 23 percent. Yan talaga ang dahilan kung bakit gusto lumipat ng lahat (If there are 1,400 municipalities sharing 30 percent of the IRA, then it is best to transfer into cityhood, where only 120 are sharing the 23 percent. That is really the reason why so many municipalities want to become cities),” Robredo explained.
He recalled the term of former President Joseph Estrada, where P50 million was the required income bracket for a local government unit to be considered a city. However, Congress later decided to hike the income bracket to P100 million.
The conversion of the 16 cities was the latest SC decision, after one of the associate justices voted in favor of the 16 new cities last week.
Robredo revealed that the 16 municipalities have already elected 10 councilors during the May 2010 elections, probably in anticipation of their future city status. Municipalities normally only have eight councilors.
Czarina Nicole Ong, Manila Bulletin
