Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles believes that the Supreme Court (SC) ruling on Mandanas and Garcia petitions next year will give the country “a taste” of a federalism system of government.
Nograles made this remark as the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) announced that it has started preparing local government units (LGUs) for the full devolution of basic services and facilities with the launch of a series of orientations and workshops.
“Kung bilib ka sa mas (If you believe in more) devolved functions to the LGUs, then necessarily you have to push for federalism. That’s the next step,” he said during a virtual Anvil Business Club forum on Tuesday.
Even if the Duterte administration has decided to take a step back on efforts to push for a shift to a new system of government, Nograles said the Garcia-Mandanas ruling is similar to federalism in such a way that it entails “devolution” and “bigger” funding for LGUs.
“Yung dating slice of the pie ng national government mababawasan kasi pupunta yung slice na ‘yun to the LGUs…dadami din yung functions na ide-devolve natin sa LGUs (The slice of the pie of the national government will be reduced and given to LGUs…functions devolved to the LGUs will also increase),” he said.
He described it as the best “proof of concept” that would allow the country to “visualize” what a federal system of government looks like.
“All I’m saying is because of this Garcia-Mandanas ruling we might be given a taste of what a federal system of government might actually feel like, look like, and be like,” he added.
The SC Mandanas-Garcia ruling is in accordance with the Devolution Transition Plans (DTPs) Under Executive Order (EO) No. 138.
Last June, Duterte signed EO 138 directing certain functions of the Executive branch must be fully devolved to LGUs.
EO 138 created a “Committee on Devolution” (ComDev) to be led by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary to implement its administrative and fiscal decentralization goals.
“With the full devolution of the provision of basic services and facilities to the LGUs, national government agencies can assume more strategic and steering functions to address persistent development issues,” the EO read.
It also noted that LGU share from national taxes is expected to increase starting 2022 with the SC ruling.
To carry out the plan, the national government agencies and LGUs must prepare their DTPs to conform to the guidelines to be issued by the DBM and the DILG.
The EO also directed ComDev to propose a “growth equity fund” to Congress to address issues on marginalization, unequal development, high property incidence, and disparities in the net fiscal capacities of LGUs.
Last year, Malacañang said President Rodrigo Duterte is too busy prioritizing the government’s Covid-19 response to push for federalism.
Source: Philippines News Agency
