Press Release
December 9, 2014

LGUs deserve more funds to save lives,
build resilient communities -- Koko Pimentel

The extremely low casualty figure in provinces that bore the brunt of typhoon Ruby's destructive winds and rain "is a testament to the effectiveness" of anti-disaster preparations of local government units, Senator Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III said today.

"It proves that governance is ultimately local," said Pimentel, who is also the chairman of the Senate oversight committee on local governments. "This is a product of hard work of local officials who mobilized their resources to get their people out of harm's way."

Pimentel said provincial, city, town and barangay executives "form the most effective first line of defense against disasters, because they can get things done without much fanfare."

On Saturday, typhoon Ruby, with maximum center winds of 190 kph, slammed into Eastern Samar, knocking out power and communication lines, uprooting trees, and causing shallow flooding. As it barreled further into the central region, it cut a wide swath of destruction.

But up to a million residents of the provinces placed under storm signal No. 2 and No. 3 have already been moved to designated evacuation centers hours before the howler slammed, as LGUs activated anti-disaster plans with the goal of zero casualty.

Pimentel is convinced that it is time for Congress to tackle his pet bill to amend the fiscal provisions of the 1991 Local Government Code next year.

"It is time that local officials are fully empowered. Congress should provide them with added resources to face the challenges of climate change."

The proposed Senate Bill No. 2045, called the "Bigger Pie, Bigger Slice" bill, would give local government units (LGUs) a P600-billion increase in their shares from national taxes.

The new LGU shares would be known as Shares in the National Taxes or SNT to replace the Internal Revenue Allotment or IRA since the landmark law took effect in 1991. It seeks to expand the tax base to include collections by the Bureau of Customs in addition to those collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Bigger funds would enable LGUs to build more resilient infrastructure support projects, Pimentel said, that could withstand the calamitous effects of stronger typhoons.

These infrastructure as well as health, social services and environmental programs would impact heavily on the people.

"As we cope with climate change, governance could yet have a profound and lasting effect on the people and communities," he said.

"Dependence on national government will be greatly reduced."

The bill would raise LGU shares from the current 40 percent to 50 percent while replacing the phrase "national internal revenues taxes" with "national taxes" once the proposed measure becomes a law.

"Essentially, we are increasing the size of the pie to be divided among the LGUs," Pimentel said.

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