ANGELES CITY – Faced with a “double whammy” reduction of Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) starting next year, this city’s Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan vowed yesterday not to raise local taxes, fees and fines.
In a press briefing here yesterday, Pamintuan cited “conservative estimate” that some P60 million would be shaved from his city’s annual IRA arising from the 4.8 percent reduction of IRAs of all local government units, as well as the addition of 16 new cities as upheld recently by the Supreme Court.
During his visit to Minalin, Pampanga last week, Interior and Local Government Sec. Jesse Robredo urged mayors nationwide to use “judiciously” their IRA shares next year, as these would be lower by 4.8 percent.
Robredo said the lower IRA would pose as a “big challenge” to local officials as he called on them to “prioritize projects” for the “judicious use” of their IRA.
Robredo justified the 4. 8-percent IRA reduction, saying this was prompted by the lower national tax collections in the past three years.
The national tax collection in 2009 was 4. 8 percent lower than the 2008 tax collection, he noted. In Angeles City, the 4.8 percent would amount to about P20 million.
Earlier, the Supreme Court also decided with finality to uphold the creation of 16 more cities that would thus partake of the total IRA allocation for cities, thus reducing the shares of the old cities.
Pamintuan said that this alone would reduce Angeles’s IRA by about another P40 million. Pamintuan noted that IRA allocations are computed every three years.
He stressed that while he has “some concerns” over the reduced IRA, he has remained confident that his city government would still be able to carry out its programs and projects.
“I will not raise taxes, fines and fees, provided that all sectors would pay their taxes promptly because we must continue delivering all the services to our community,” he said.
Pamintuan also appealed for discipline among local folk, as he noted that lack of traffic discipline had prompted him recently to hire more traffic aides.
“Why is it that there are areas where people obey traffic even without traffic aides?” he asked, as he noted that traffic discipline would also lead to savings.
