P11.7B P’sinan I.R.A, biggest among 4 provinces’ Region-1

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

CALASIAO - With almost twelve billion pesos on it coffer, Pangasinan has the biggest internal revenue allotment (IRA) for this year from the national government compared to the other three provinces in Region 1.

Bureau of Internal Revenue's regional officials in Region - 1 donated recently
 their blood to the Philippine Red Cross in Urdaneta City, Pangasinan.
The agency was led by Regional Director Marina de Guzman (2nd from right)

 According to the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s regional office here, the IRA for the local government units (LGU) was broken down to Php 11,658,073,000 for Pangasinan, Php 4,395,013,000 for Ilocos Sur,  Php 3,935,035.000 for Ilocos Norte , and Php 3,699,047,000 La Union.

IRA, according to Lee Caday, head of the Taxpayer Assistance Unit, is the LGU’s share of national taxes from the Philippine national government. 

The allotment is largely based upon the type of government they have and a formula based upon their land area and population. Section 284 of the Local Government Code of the Philippines (RA 7160) sets the formula for the distribution of the allotment.

According to the Comparative Table of Allocation to Local Government Unit for 2016, the IRA of the 44 towns and four cities’ Pangasinan have been divided by P2,665,056,000 for the provincial government, Php 4,647,047,000 for the 44 towns, Php 509,029,000 for San Carlos City, Php 411,015,000 for Dagupan City, Php 398,083,000 for Urdaneta City, and Php 384,096,000 for Alaminos City.

The 1,364 barangays (villages) of Pangasinan have Php 2,641,047,000.

 According to Caday, who is also the chief of staff of Regional Director Marina de Guzman, all or nearly all of the revenue that a local government has to spend comes from their IRA, though some local governments also have additional local sources of revenue such as property taxes and government fees. Typically for municipalities, the IRA accounts for 90% of total revenues. Since cities have more sources of local revenues, their IRA ranges from 50% to 70% of their total budget.

A political expert, who asked anonymity, explained that if Dagupan City has a 2016 budget allocation of almost Php 800 million approved by its Council and mayor it means it already included the Php 411,015,020 IRA and those from the local taxes.

Region-1 has a total IRA of Php 23,688, 068,000 from the national government.