San Carlos P600M budget happens due to pressure by DBM

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

SAN CARLOS CITY – With more than six hundred million pesos budget for this year, the mayor here cited that this will happen due to the tax collection target given to them by the Department of Budget & Management.

Mayor Joseres Resuelo said that the DBM spiked this year’s local revenues target collection for this year. He was tasked to collect P120 million so it can have the P500 million Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA).

IRA, according to the law, is a local government unit’s (LGU) share of revenues from the Philippine national government. Provinces, independent cities, component cities, municipalities and barangays each get a separate allotment.

“Ang IRA namin is 500 million plus ang estimated namin. Ngayon tinaasan kami ng DBM ginawa nilang P120 million ang estimated local revenue. So umangat ang IRA namin. Inaangat wala ang quota namin. Kami ang may quota niyan. Ang local revenue dapat maka collect kami ng minimum na P120 million,”he stressed.

Despite the low local revenue collection as counterpart to the the IRA, this 86 villages city received a huge IRA because of the number of its population and the stretch of its land area.

This city has a population of 188,571 according to a 2015 census. It is the biggest in terms of demography in Region-1.

Resuelo said the biggest budget for this year is allocated to infrastructures like barangay roads, constructions of facilities like the barangay halls, schools, and others.

Meanwhile, the mayor is trying to solve the worsening traffic congestion here through the improvement of roads especially at the plaza areas.

He said he could not just accept investors with out fist improving the traffic problem.

“Kusa na pumapasok ang investors, di na ako nag i-invite. The problem is hindi ko muna ma-oo-han kasi kailangan ko nang i-fix ang traffic system. Magara ngang pakingan maraming malls sa area pero ang traffic malala naman”.

Presently, there are three new malls being built here.

They are San Carlos Town Center owned by Citi Properties, Inc., The City Mall by Double Dragon Industries, Inc., and Magic Commercial Center 2.

Resuelo said the owner of Magic Commercial Center 2, the Lims of Dagupan City, revised its original plan by expanding it so it could compete with the other two malls that are being built here.