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Pia: Submit devolution plans: Sen. Pia Cayetano presides over the virtual hearing of the Finance Subcommittee D on the proposed 2022 budget of the Department of Health (DOH) and its attached agencies Wednesday, October 13, 2021. Cayetano reminded heads of the DOH attached agencies the deadline for the submission of their devolution plans in light of the Mandanas-Garcia ruling. During the hearing, Cayetano echoed the suggestion of Sen. Villar that feeding programs under the National Nutrition Council and the Department of Social Welfare and Development should be devolved and handled by the local government units (LGUs). “There really has to be a limit on what the national can spend and efficiently carry out,” Cayetano said. The Mandanas-Garcia ruling resulted from the petition filed by Batangas Gov. Hermilando Mandanas and former Bataan Gov. Enrique Garcia Jr. before the Supreme Court on local government shares involving the internal revenue allotment. The Supreme Court affirmed that LGUs are entitled to a “just share” from all national taxes collected and not only those from the Bureau of Internal Revenue. (Screen grab/Senate PRIB)