TACLOBAN CITY - Leyte Governor Carlos Jericho “Icot” L. Petilla said that leaders of local government units would insist that the national government pay them their internal revenue allotment shares that were withheld during the administration of former President Joseph Estrada.
Petilla, reached on his mobile phone, divulged that Malacañang wanted to release the IRA to local government units but on a staggered basis. The fund would be paid within a seven-year period through an still unidentified government bank, Petilla said.
According to Petilla, the national government owes LGUs at least P17.5 billion of unpaid internal revenue allotment shares covering years 2000 and 2001.
“But some of us, especially those who are graduating, want its immediate release,” Petilla told Leyte Samar Daily Express. Petilla is serving his first term as governor of the province.
He added that while they acknowledge that the national government is suffering from financial deficit, they would still insist that the unpaid IRA shares be given to them even it would be done on a staggered basis.
He also said that it is now up to the cash-strapped national government where it would source the P17.5 billion unpaid internal revenue allotment for the local government units.
“The money belongs to us, among the local government units,” Petilla insisted.
The governor said that they hope that the national government under President Macapagal-Arroyo would release the IRA within this year.
In the case of Leyte, if the national government decides to release the entire amount, the province stands to receive around P300 million, representing the years 2000-2001, the years Malacanang withheld the release of the IRA shares of the LGUs.
LGUs generally depend on their IRA shares in funding their projects.
But during the administration of former President Joseph Estrada, the release of the IRA shares of the local government units were stopped. The IRA shares of the LGUs were used by the national government instead, claiming that it has to cover up the financial deficit it was then encountering.
That decision of Malacañang was largely criticized by the leaders of the local government units, saying that it would affect the delivery of basic services to their constituents.
The Supreme Court had ruled that the national government has no right to control the IRA shares of the local government units. But notwithstanding the decision of the Higher Court, Malacañang under President Arroyo did not release the IRA shares of the local government units.
The national government claimed that with the fiscal crisis that it is facing, it would be difficult for it to give to the demand of the local government units.
However, the implementation of the Reform Value Added Tax (RVAT) gave it a reason to give in to the demands of the local government units for the release of their unpaid IRA.
But Petilla expressed his reservation, saying that while the national government could earn some revenue out of the implementation of the RVAT, there is no guarantee that the LGUs would benefit from it.
He said that whatever revenue that would be generated by the government out of the RVAT implementation would be used for other purposes of the government like debt servicing and delivery of basic services.
