Basista, Labrador Bid for 3rd Class Town

 

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan – The municipalities of Basista and Labrador would no longer be considered as part of the poorest among Pangasinan towns after the Department of Finance (DoF) would elevate them from fourth class to third class.

Classification of towns in the Philippines starts from fifth class to first class.

TOP ELECTED BRASS. Basista Mayor Jolly Resuello (left, photo) and Labrador Vice Mayor Art Arenas.

Before becoming a third class, a fourth class town should have an average annual regular income for three (3) fiscal years preceding a general income reclassification of between P130 million to P160 million according to Republic Act 11964 signed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. last year. It is known as the Automatic Income Classification of Local Government Units Act.

It means the towns should have that average amount mentioned in the last immediate preceding three years if they want to be reclassified as third class municipalities for 2024.

According to an insider at the office of the mayor in Basista, the rustic landlocked town that saw progress under the tutelage of Mayor Jolly Resuello bid this year for third class with the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF) of the DOF.

Upon inquiry from this newspaper if the coastal town's Labrador bids too for the same classification, Vice Mayor Artemio Arenas answered in the affirmative.

“Almost 148 million - 2024; almost 140 million – 2023,” the texts he sent to this writer through short messaging service by citing this year and last year’s budget of the ten villages' town.

It had the following annual budgets of P111,245,736.00 and P159,574,704.00 in years 2021 and 2022, respectively.

The 13 villages’ Basista on the other hand had a P112,500,152.47 for 2020; P120, 158, 591.00 for 2021; P167, 673, 690.00 in 2022, (data unavailable) 2023, respectively.

Annual Regular Income, according to R.A 11964, refers to revenues, including fees and receipts actually realized which are reported yearly on cash basis by provinces, cities and municipalities from regular sources, including the National Tax Allotment (NTA) and other shares in national wealth, but exclusive of non-recurring receipts, such as national aids, grants, financial assistance, loan proceeds, sales of assets, miscellaneous income/receipts and similar others.