Tuesday, August 29, 2017

HB 6177 | Rationalization of Income for Creation of LGUs pushed

HOR COMPLEX, Quezon City (DWDD) – The House of Representatives has approved on second reading a bill which seeks to rationalize the income requirements for the creation of a municipality and the creation of a province.

House Bill 6177 likewise aims to rationalize the income requirement for the declaration of highly urbanized status in the case of component cities.

The bill amends certain provisions of Republic Act No. 7160, as amended, otherwise known as the Local Government Code of 1991, specifically requisites for the creation of municipality (Section 442), requirements for a city to be classified as highly urbanized (Section 452), duty of the President to grant highly urbanized city status (Section 453) and requisites for the creation of a province (Section 461).

The bill seeks to correct the imbalance in income requirements created by RA No. 9009 entitled “An Act Amending Section 450 of RA No. 7160, otherwise known as the ‘Local Government Code of 1991’, as amended, by increasing the average annual requirement for a municipality or cluster of barangays to be converted into a Component City.”

Deputy Speaker Gwendolyn Garcia (3rd District, Cebu), one of the authors of the bill, said under the present law, a city may not be created if the income of a municipality or a cluster of barangays falls below P100 million while for P2.5 million, a new municipality may be formed and for a mere P20 million, a new province may be created.

“Likewise, we have a situation where, despite the P100 million threshold in the creation of a city, a highly urbanized city may be declared on the basis of a P50 million income,” Garcia said.

Rep. Victor Yap (2nd District, Tarlac), another author, said there is a situation where the threshold amounts of average annual income required for the conversion and/or creation of various local government units (LGUs) vary widely and irrationally.

The proposed amendment to Section 442(a) states a municipality may be created if it has an average annual income, as certified by the provincial treasurer of at least P12.5 million for the last two consecutive years based on the 2016 constant prices and a population of at least 25,000 inhabitants as certified by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Under the amended Section 452(a), a city shall be classified as a highly urbanized city based on the following requirements: a minimum population of 200,000 inhabitants as certified by the PSA; and a locally-generated annual income for the last two consecutive years of at least P250 million based on 2000 constant prices, as certified by the Department of Finance (DOF).

The amendment further states that the annual average income shall include the income accruing to the general fund, but excluding the internal revenue allotment (IRA) shares, special funds, trust funds and non-recurrent income.

The amendment to Section 453 states it shall be the duty of Congress to pass a joint resolution to declare a city as highly urbanized within 30 days after it shall have met the minimum requirements prescribed under the Act upon proper determination therefor, provided that the declaration shall be ratified in a plebiscite by the qualified voters of the province in which the city geographically belongs.

The amendment to Section 461 (a) provides that a province may be created if it has an average locally-generated annual income for the last two consecutive years, as certified by the DOF of not less than P200 million based on the 2000 constant process and either of the following requisites: (i) contiguous territory of at least 2,000 square kilometers, as certified by the Land Management Bureau; or (ii) a population of not less than 250,000 inhabitants as certified by the PSA.

Section 461(b) is also amended to read as follows: “The territorial jurisdiction of a newly-created province shall be properly identified by metes and bounds. The requirement on land area shall not apply where the province proposed to be created is composed of one or more islands. The territory need not be contiguous if it comprises two or more islands or is separated by a chartered city or cities which do not contribute to the income of the province.”

Likewise, the amendment to Section 461(c) provides that the average annual locally-generated income shall include the income accruing to the general fund, exclusive of the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) shares, special funds, trust funds, transfers, and non-recurring income.

Other authors of the bill are Reps. Francisco Jose Matugas II (1st District, Surigao del Norte), Prospero Pichay, Jr. (1st District, Surigao del Sur) and Johnny Pimentel (2nd District, Surigao del Sur). CONGRESS / MCAG

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