Oriental Negros Vice Gov. Jose Baldado said he was elated at the increase in the Internal Revenue Allotment shares of local government units in the country this year.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had announced the increase in IRA at the national conference of the Philippine Councilors League held recently at the Cebu International Conference.

Baldado said the increase will greatly help in reaching out to the community. "There will be more services available to the constituents and more projects towards progress," he said. At the conference, President Arroyo focused mainly on the economic progress the country had made, stressing the importance of support from local government officials.

She added it was the first time in the country's economic history that it had 24 quarters of uninterrupted growth.

The increase in the IRA was also made possible because of the increase in tax collection. The national government had raised the IRA of LGUs by P15 billion, she said.*RG

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