Photo Release

Devolve feeding program to LGUs: Sen. Cynthia Villar, during the virtual hearing on the proposed 2022 budget of the Department of Health and its attached agencies Wednesday, October 13, 2021, suggests devolving the feeding program under the National Nutrition Council to the local government units (LGUs). Villar said the feeding program is an activity that could be better coordinated by the LGUs under the guidance of the Nutrition Council. “This is a function that we can devolve to the LGUs. They said that they asked the help of the LGUs, I want to know how do they pick the LGUs and what is the LGU's counterpart because we will be giving a lot to the local governments,” Villar said. At present, LGUs receive around 40 percent of the national internal revenue taxes collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) for their internal revenue allotment (IRA). LGUs IRA is projected to increase by 27.61 percent next year due to the Mandanas-Garcia ruling which would allow LGUs to collect shares from all national taxes collected and not only those from the BIR. (Screen grab/Senate PRIB)