Iloilo City IRA share cut by P8M
Iloilo City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas has instructed the Sangguniang Panlungsod and the Local Finance Council to identify programs that will be affected and should be prioritized now that its Internal Revenue Allotment Fund (IRA) was cut by almost P8-million.
City Treasurer Katherine Tingson said this year, the city is supposed to receive P420 million but with the decrease, it will only receive P412.5 million; P210.266 million released during the first semester and of P202.24 million for the period July to December.
Treñas said during their meeting at the League of Cities (LCP), the association was informed that the decrease was attributed to the coming in of 16 new cities with their population now included in the computation and the conversion of several existing cities into a highly urbanized category like Puerto Prinsesa in Palawan.
The P420 million IRA that was earlier computed for the city has an increase of P9-million, thus making the figure insignificant according to Treñas with the new cut of P8-million.
The mayor said the city has no option now but to become 'self-reliant and not just rely on IRA because sometimes it goes up and sometimes down.'
"We are veering away from being IRA dependent. Our local income now is even higher than the IRA we receive," he said. (PNA)