Sta. Barbara Losses P44-M From Nat'l Gov't

Settles for P325, 600, 000 Budget Next Year

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

STA. BARBARA, Pangasinan – This first class town lost P44 million estimated national tax allotment (NAT) as seen on its year 2023 proposed budget of P325, 600,000.

Mayor Carlito Zaplan, Executive Secretary Sherwin Pioquinto, Councilors Noy Zaplan and Marking Cruz were unanimous in telling Northern Watch Newspaper that the municipal budget of P328, 000, 000 for year 2022 is much bigger than that of next year.

  

Sta. Barbara Mayor Lito Zaplan (left) and Councilor Noy Zaplan.

The Local Government Code of the Philippines cited that the local government unit (LGU) 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 reduced 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.

One of the mitigating factors that help strengthen the budget of the LGU and brick making town of Sta. Barbara is this year’s more or less P70, 000,000 business tax paid by the plant of the Ginebra San Miguel, RC Cola, other sources of local taxes like those in the real property.

The 1,715 provinces, cities and municipalities in the country are not spared on the reduction of the national tax allotment -the successor of the internal revenue allotment.

In Pangasinan province alone, the capital town of Lingayen saw its NTA reduced from P344, 499, 436 this year to P294, 650, 708 next year or a loss of P49, 848, 728.

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.  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”.

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.