LCP to take strong stand vs approval of 12 new cities
City Mayor Jerry Treñas said the League of Cities in the Philippines (LCP) will come up with a strong stand regarding the recent approval of 12 municipalities into cities. The conversion will decrease the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) of the existing 118 cities in the country.
Treñas, who is the LCP president, said they will meet on February 8, 2007 to discuss on the possible action that they may take. The LCP will make a final decision after the February national executive committee hearing in Manila.
The creation of the new cities will decrease the IRA share of each city by as much as P32 million. The decrease of the IRA share will take effect in 2008. The conversion does not automatically decrease the IRA share of the city for 2007.
In the same meeting, the LCP will also decide on what to do against the senators who voted for the conversion of the 12 municipalities. The recent conversion did not include the town of Pototan which also vied for its conversion from being a municipality into a city.
Earlier, the LCP threatened to boycott the reelectionist senators who voted for the creation of new cities in the country comes May election. However, this will still be a subject of deliberation in the forthcoming meeting of the league.
Treñas said it was not his call to boycott the reelectionists. It was the mayor themselves who wanted to boycott the senators who became material in creating new cities in the Philippines. Every action to be taken by the league will depend on the result of the meeting.
When asked whether the league will contest the senate's approval before the court, Treñas said it is the last option that they are considering. They could not seek the court's intervention not until the conversion is approved by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.