LCP to meet with Pimentel, Hofer over IRA issues
League of Cities in the Philippines (LCP) chair Mayor Jerry Treñas will meet with Senator Aquilino Pimentel and Zamboanga Sibugay Representative Ann Hofer to address the problems on the creation of new cities that would cause the eventual reduction of the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) of existing cities in the country.
Treñas said the two are willing to sit down with the league and discuss the issues regarding the creation of new cities.
Pimentel is considered as the "Father of the Local Government Code." Under the Local Government Code, a town should have a locally generated income of at least P100 million annually before it could be classified into a city. It should either have a land area of at least 100 square kilometers or a population of 150,000.
On the other hand, Rep. Hofer authored House Bill 24 that seeks to amend Republic Act 9009 or the Local Government Code by exempting the capital towns of provinces from the income requirements of city hood.
Treñas reiterated that the league is strongly opposing the creation of new cities that do no meet the income requirements because of the resulting decrease in their IRA share. He said the IRA is the tax share of local government units, which get 40 centavos of every peso in tax collected by the government from different forms of taxes.
The league is alarmed with the proposal to convert 28 capital towns into cities as it will result in the reduction of the IRA share of cities by P56 million each. Currently, there are already 136 cities. There are only 61 cities before the Local Government Code was approved, said Treñas.
Meanwhile, employees of the city government yesterday wore black arm bands to dramatize the city's strong opposition on the creation of new cities and the reduction in the IRA share. The city would lose P36 million from its IRA share because of the 16 new cities. A message which states "Ibalik ang IRA" was inscribed in the black arm band.
Employees will wear the black arm band every Monday. The city could not fly the flag at half mast as they are holding office at the Robinsons mall. This will continue until no resolution is made regarding the IRA cut and the creation of new cities, said Treñas.
The LCP is also calling for a moratorium on the creation of new cities for at least two years and filed a petition before the Supreme Court to freeze the IRA share of 16 new cities pending the resolution of the case they filed.