Lingayen Least Affected of Budget Slash Next Year

 Compared to San Fabian, Basista, Manaoag, Binmaley

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

DAGUPAN CITY – Among the local government units (LGU) in Pangasinan, it is probably the capital town Lingayen that faces a small reduction of its budget next year compared to towns like San Fabian, Basista, Manaoag, and Binmaley.

Due to the three years as basis of the division of the national tax allotment (NAT) to every LGU in the country, Lingayen has to heed the entreaty of the Sanggunian Panlalawigan (provincial legislature) to reduce by P3 million its proposed budget of P380, 650, 708 for fiscal year 2023.

LINGAYEN MAYOR Leopoldo Bataoil (upper left photo and clockwise), Basista Mayor Jolly R. Resuello, Manaoag Mayor Jeremy Agerico Rosario, and San Fabian Mayor Constante Agbayani.

“That’s the projection we’re expecting to achieve but then we were tempered by the Sanggunian Panlalawigan whom I attended. We explained we were optimistic that we are able to achieve that much. How they tempered us we respect the suggestion of the august body,” Mayor Leopoldo Bataoil told Northern Watch Newspaper.

Because of the reduction of the P3 million, the additional four positions he wanted to be created “have been relegated to the sideline”.

During his First 100 Days Report to his constituents on October 10, 2022, Bataoil was zealous to collect more taxes like those in the market stalls, real property taxes, and other sources to buttress the public coffer.

San Fabian Vice Mayor Danny Agbayani said his first class town will have a P274 million budget next year after P43 million was not included to it.

Despite the shrinking of the coffer, the former mayor said his town under the leadership of his wife Mayor Marlyn Espino-Agbayani has countless farm-to market roads, road pavement, slope protections, and creation and repair of public schools.

He said the hundreds of millions of pesos of projects from the national government were through the intercession of his relative Senator Imee Marcos – the brother of the Philippines President.

“Marami. Kasi from the north ako pero relatives ko sila,” he said about the Marcosses.

Basista Mayor Jolly R. Resuelo deplored the P32 million reduction from the present P157 million budget for his fourth class town next year.

“Dito sa amin mababawasan kami ng P32 million. Malaki na iyan para sa amin kasi maliit na bayan lang kami”.

Despite the more than P130 million budget there will be no retrenchment for the present number of the municipal employees.

Mayors Jeremy Agerico Rosario and Pedro Merrera of Manaoag and Binmaley, respectively, told Northern Watch Newspaper that they face a budget shrinking. Manaoag and Binmaley have a present budget of P268 million and P350 million, respectively.

With P40 million and P44 million taken from the present budget, the proposed budget of Manaoag and Binmaley in fiscal year 2023 will be reduced to P228 million and P306 million, respectively.

The Local Government Code of the Philippines cited that the LGUs shall have a share in the national internal revenue taxes based on the collection of the third fiscal year preceding the current fiscal year as follows:… (c) On the third year and thereafter, forty percent (40%).

According to the Department of Budget and Management, due to the drop in tax revenues collected by the government in 2020 at the onset of the Corona Virus Disease - 19 pandemic local governments’ share in the proposed 2023 national budget will be diminished to P820.3 billion,
A local budget memorandum issued by the DBM said  that LGUs share from all tax collections in 2020, which was the basis of their 2023 national tax allotment (NTA), included P665.8 billion from the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) tax take two years ago; P154.4 billion from the Bureau of Customs’ collections of import duties and other taxes, and; P32.6 million in national taxes collected by other agencies.

When divided to all local government units, the country’s 82 provinces will have an NTA share of P188.7 billion, which they will divide among themselves; the 146 cities, also P188.7 billion; the 1,488 municipalities, P278.9 billion; notwithstanding the P164.1 billion to be subdivided among the 41,935 villages or barangays nationwide.

Next year’s NTA will be below the record P959.04 billion in this year’s P5.02-trillion national budget—the first annual appropriation that implemented the Supreme Court’s Mandanas-Garcia ruling. LGUs’ 2022 NTA was based on all tax collections in 2019.