CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Pampanga 4th District Rep. Juan Pablo “Rimpy” Bondoc called on the national government to release some P500-billion shares of local government units from all national taxes to help fund efforts against Covid-19 in their respective localities.
At the online session of the House of Representatives last Monday, Bondoc made manifest “my desire for us as a body” to revisit the “Mandanas Ruling” of the Supreme Court that gave LGUs bigger share of the internal revenue allotment in 2022.
“Instead of implementing it in 2022 as decided by the SC, let’s work to find a way to implement it as soon as possible,” pleaded Bondoc. “When it is sorely needed to combat Covid-19.”
Bondoc lamented that since 1992, LGUs have been deprived of this rightful share of certain national government taxes, “hence the Mandanas Ruling.”
The Supreme Court ruling favored the separate petitions of then Batangas representative now Gov. Hermilando Mandanas and the late then Bataan representative and Gov. Enrique “Tet” Garcia in 2012 that local governments were entitled to shares from national taxes and not just from internal revenue taxes.
National taxes include customs tariffs and other taxes collected by other national agencies. Internal revenue taxes include income tax, VAT, estate and donor’s taxes, excise tax, among others.
In his petition, Mandanas said P500 billion in “just shares” were not released from 1992 to 2012.
Bondoc made his proposal in the same special session whereby the House approved a measure grantingPresident Duterte special authority to address Covid-19.
