CHAIR of the City Council’s committees on Trade and Commerce and on Ways and Means Councilor George Goking on Friday looked at the implementation of the Mandanas Ruling not just as a transfer of resources but an opportunity to strengthen decentralization and improve social service delivery in the country.
The said ruling, as questioned during Pag-Ila 2022 candidates forum held at the Little Theater of Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan, got to hear the critical thoughts of the candidates running for city council first district seats.
Goking in response to a question said the implementation of the ruling is to improve the capacity of barangays and enhance transparency and accountability in dealing with inequality in financial resources among local government units (LGUs).
He said the increased fund of local government units (LGUs) due to the implementation of the ruling as ordered by the Supreme Court has enabled barangays to pursue targeted projects amid the health pandemic.
The Wednesday forum was the first of a four-part series spearheaded by Xavier University focused on candidates running for Cagayan de Oro City’s local positions as well as the gubernatorial and vice gubernatorial posts of Misamis Oriental.
“It (Mandanas ruling) means additional funding for the implementation of programs, projects and activities,” Goking said but he added also a challenge for all of the local officials.
Earlier, the Supreme Court affirmed the ruling in 2018, giving the LGUs a just share on all national taxes collected and not only from the Bureau of Internal Revenue effective 2022.
As a result of the Mandanas Ruling by the SC IN 2018 (and confirmed in 2019) the IRA are programmed to increase by 55 percent in the 2022 budget, reaching P1.08 trillion or 4.8 percent of the country’s gross domestic product compared to 3.5 percent of GDP in 2021.
During the forum, Goking as led the city council's regulatory reform team said some old ordinances will be recommended for possible revisions and enactments.
The continued reopening of the economy, along with the enactment and amendments of laws supporting businesses and employment, is a “big help,” according to Goking.
“Possible amendment on these obsolete ordinances are expected to boost the city economy’s recovery,” he said.
The city’s traffic law is one of the outdated ordinances, according to Goking that need to review especially the fines imposed for each violation.
In addition, Goking also seen other measures to further increase investments into the city as well as create more jobs, include the amendments to the local investments and public service ordinances.
“Because they (small businesses) operate locally, they create job opportunities with preference for local individuals, driving new job growth in the city,” said Goking. (Ben Balce)
