COTABATO CITY— Barangay Local Government Units (BLGUs) will start receiving their share from the national taxes, fees, and charges collected within the region following the issuance of its prescribed guidelines and procedures.
During the orientation on April 20 attended by more than 400 Barangay Captains from Maguindanao, Interior and Local Government Minister Atty. Naguib Sinarimbo shared that barangays were given a lot of tasks but they are lacking in available resources.
“We recognize that Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) from the national government is not adequate, hence in the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), we put a provision wherein barangays should have a share on taxes collected within the region,” said Sinarimbo.
This development emanated from the Section 10 (b) Article XII of the BOL which provides that the Bangsamoro Government share in the National Government taxes, fees, and charges collected in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region is inclusive of the shares of the constituent local government units.
To fulfil this provision, the Ministry of Interior and Local Government (MILG) and Ministry of Finance, and Budget and Management (MFBM) released a Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) 2022-01 on April 11, 2022 which prescribed related guidelines and procedures.
One of the salient points of the JMC 2022-01 is the enhanced accessibility to the fund wherein the Notice of Cash Allocation (NCA) for the share of the barangays shall be directly released to them by MFBM through the Bangsamoro Treasury Office.
“Alam namin na nagkaroon kayo ng problema sa access sa fund dati kaya inayos na namin ito,” said Sinarimbo.
In terms of share of the constituents LGU, it should be based on the actual collection as certified by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and shall be apportioned as follows: 45% to the province, 35% to the municipality, and 20% to the barangay.
For the share of the city, half will go to the City and the remaining 50% will go to the barangays and should be based as well on the actual collection as certified by BIR.
Identified LGUs will start receiving their share this year provided that they have complied with all related requirements stipulated on the JMC.
Meanwhile, Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education (MBHTE) Minister Mohagher Iqbal reminded the barangay captains that the autonomy the region is enjoying now was not given for free.
“It was not given to us in silver platter. Ginastusan po natin ito ng dugo, buhay, pawis, luha, etc. Halos lahat ng importanteng bagay sa buhay natin ay nagastos natin ditto,” Iqbal said.
He emphasized that the regional government has a lot of programs for its constituents, under the moral governance banner, hence it is only befitting that everyone supports all programs.
Under the BOL, the Bangsamoro Government enjoys fiscal privileges that is unique to the region. (Abdullah Matucan/BIO)
