The Dumaguete City government has been aggressively collecting taxes and is one of the few local government units in the Visayas that are not fully dependent on the Internal Revenue Allotment from the national government, for expenditures in the delivery of basic services, city administrator Dominador Dumalag Jr. said.

Dumalag said since 2003, local revenues have risen to at least P10 million yearly, without levying additional taxes. He added that the IRA share of Dumaguete accounts for only about 60 percent of its annual budget. Of its P264 million budget this year, about P105 million or 40 percent will be taken from local revenues.

Several projects are also assisted by the United States Agency for International Development and the Local Academy in the Philippines, among other prominent institutions, Dumalag said, adding that mayor Agustin Perdices was praised by these institutions for having political will.*RA

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