ILOILO – This province expects a reduction of P600 million in its Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) for 2023.
Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. confirmed to Panay News that he received information from the finance committee and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) that Iloilo province’s share from the national revenue will drop next year.
“Sa aton, P600 million man ang mabuhin,” said Defensor.
He explained that the reduction of the province’s share in IRA is due to the lower collection of the national government due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
According to Defensor, trade activities significantly stagnated in 2020 due to pandemic-induced restrictions, adding that the economy just started to recover by mid-2021.
“Ang basis sang computation sang IRA is the revenue of the national government last 2020 which is a pandemic year, because there was no trade. If you don’t have trade, no Customs collections. That’s the problem. Amo na ang iya basis,” added the governor.
Section 284 of the Local Government Code provides that the share of local government in the national internal revenue taxes is based on the collection of the third fiscal year preceding the current fiscal year.
Defensor is hopeful that the national government’s collection will recover in 2021 and 2022.
Meanwhile, because of a lower IRA for 2023, the province is examining where adjustments can be made, especially since the finance committee is already formulating the budget for fiscal year 2023 to be submitted for the 14th Sangguniang Panlalawigan’s approval.
The governor added that the finance committee assured him that the effects of the budget change on the operations of the provincial government would be manageable.
Defensor is also not worried that job hires and contract services will be affected as they try to manage impacts, adding that those employed by the provincial government are not too many.
This fiscal year 2022, the approved budget of the provincial government is at P4.3 billion, broken down as follows:
* General fund – P979,334,480
* Maintenance and other operating expenses – P1,448,316,569
* Capital Outlay – P13,700,000
* Special Purpose Lump Sum Appropriations – P1,918,102,022
The 2022 budget is over P1 billion larger than 2021’s P3,234,509,176 budget./PN
