Mayors oppose bill relaxing cityhood - Manila Times

Local officials contend creating more cities will reduce IRAs for existing cities

By Francis Earl A. Cueto Reporter

THE League of Cities of the Philippines are up in arms over a new bill in the Lower House that relaxes the stringent requirements of the Local Government Code in the transformation of a locality into a city.

League President and Manda­luyong City Mayor Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos Jr. said in a press briefing that the Lower House never consulted them over House Bill No. 24, authored by Zamboanga Sibugay Second District Rep. Ann Hofer, that exempts capital towns of provinces from the annual income requirement of P100 million to be qualified as a city.

The League, composed of 120 cities nationwide, expressed fear that their internal revenue allotment (IRA) will decrease if Congress will pass the bill. The mayors said that in 2007 alone, 16 towns were converted into new cities. If House Bill 24 becomes a law, there will be 27 new cities, which will further reduce the per capita IRA share of existing cities.

The bill states, among others, that “the capital towns of provinces without a city shall be exempted from the annual income requirement of P100 million,” Likewise, it stated “that capital towns of provinces where there is no existing city shall be priority for conversion into component cities…”

League members said that they will stage a “Black Monday” on January 28, wherein employees of their cities will be wearing black armbands. The Philippine flag will also be flown at half-mast to express their opposition to the bill.

“The cities will be in a crisis. The cities will face extinction with this bill,” Abalos said.

Abalos warned that a locality’s delivery of basic services, which include health and education, would be greatly affected by the bill’s passage. Likewise, cities may have to undertake a massive retrenchment.

Lower allotment for cities

A media presentation on the effects on the bill cited as an example Sorsogon City, which was supposed to get an IRA increase of P41.9 million if it was not converted to a city, or a 15-percent increase from last year’s IRA. However, after its conversion to a city, Sorsogon will now only get an increase of only P8 million or a 3-percent increase. As such, the city’s IRA is P33.8-million less because of its conversion to a city.

Another example is Puerto Princesa, which was supposed to get an IRA increase of P146.1 million before its conversion into a city or a 15-percent increase from last year’s IRA. However, after conversion, the city will get an increase of only P1.7 million or a measly 0.18-percent increase. As such, the city’s allotment is P144.4-million less because of its conversion to a city.

Abalos explained that in 1996, the IRA per capita for Philippine cities is 20 percent higher than that of the provinces and municipalities. Nine years later, the situation has been reversed.

Today, the IRA per capita for Philippine cities is now 30 percent lower than the allotment per capita of provinces and municipalities, he added.