President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo assured the members of the League of Cities of the Philippines that the recent conversion of 13 towns into cities will not affect their existing Internal Revenue Allotment, Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leenardia yesterday said.

Leonardia said one of the reasons they were called to Malacañang Tuesday is that the mayors were complaining about the conversion of the 13 towns into cities. The city mayors had always objected to this for obvious reasons, he said, and the President has been aware of the rumblings of the mayors since it will affect their IRA share substantially.

Leonardia said Davao, for example, which is so very big, will lose about P200 million of its IRA as a consequence of the conversions of these new cities. That means Bacolod is also to lose a very substantial amount, he said.

However, the President assured them in that meeting that all the existing IRA will not be affected, Leonardia said. He said if Bacolod has an IRA of P470 million for 2007, it will receive the same amount next year. "It also means that, while the situation is not yet stabilized, they cannot also expect an increase, he said. There is an increase in the IRA every year," he added.

Leonardia said the President also emphasized that the Value Added Tax is going to increase taxes, therefore, the IRA pie will also become bigger. As the years go by, time will come when the cities will again enjoy the continuous increase of the IRA, he said.

During the meeting at Malacañang, the President also presented the Team Unity to them, Leonardia said.*CGS

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