The flag will fly at half mast and black arm bands will be worn today in Bacolod City as part of a nationwide protest against the creation by Congress of 16 new cities despite their failure to meet requirements mandated by law, Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia said yesterday.

Other cities throughout Negros Occidental and the Philippines are also staging similar protests every Monday, to symbolize their continuing fight, Leonardia said.

Leonardia said the creation of these new cities would mean a cut in the Internal Revenue Allotment of Bacolod City this year by P41 million.

Santiago City Mayor Amy Navarro and Baguio City Mayor Ray Bautista, who were in Bacolod City yesterday, echoed the sentiments of Leonardia and said their cities are staging similar protests.

Navarro said her city would suffer a budget cut of P82 million, while Bautista said it would mean about P30 million less for Baguio City .

Navarro said the cut would affect numerous programs in Santiago City , including a scholarship program for 25,000 students.

Bautista said they are not against the creation of new cities as long as, in their creation, they are not exempted from the rules.

The 13th Congress converted 16 municipalities into cities even if they did not meet the income and population requirements as mandated by law, Leonardia said.

INCONSIDERATE, HASTY

This inconsiderate and hasty move of Congress without thinking of the dire consequences it will bring to the existing cities and our constituents, is deplored by the League of Cities of the Philippines of which Bacolod City is a member, he said.

Leonardia is the national vice chairman of the League.

And the biggest threat now is a pending bill that proposes to create 27 more new cities, which would be disastrous, he said.

Leonardia said 23 percent of the country's IRA currently goes to 120 cities. The addition of more will mean reduced shares for all.

“We enjoin everyone to wear black arm bands as a symbol of our protest. This will be our symbol of mourning for the effects of the unjust action of Congress. We lament the blatant disregard of our plight as legitimate cities in this country,” Leonardia said.

In urging all Bacoleños to join the protest, Leonardia said “The IRA issue is everybody's issue – every citizen, rich, poor, young and old. Let us take a stand and fight for our right.”

P4 BILLION REDUCTION

For this year 2008, the Department of Budget and Management released P210.7 billion as IRA share for all LGUs, with P47.9 billion going to cities, he said.

However, due to the questionable conversion of 16 municipalities into cities, the increase in the IRA of the legitimate cities, Bacolod among them, has been reduced by P4 billion, he said.

This means the cities are getting a measly increase in IRA despite their growing needs, Leonardia pointed out.

“Another blow to our cities, is the use of the 2000 population data in the computation of the IRA. We all know that our population has continually increased in the past 8 years, especially with high urban migration. But the IRA per capita of cities are actually far lower than that of provinces and municipalities,” he said.

There are more people living in Philippines cities as 55 percent of the population are found in urban centers. Yet, based on 2005 statistics, each city dweller has an IRA share of P1,650 per capita compared to the allocation of P2,153 per capita for provinces and municipalities, he said.

CITY'S RIGHTFUL SHARE

IRA is derived from the income taxes paid to the national government. IRA is the rightful share of local governments and it helps subsidize the programs and projects of the cities, he said.

The decrease in IRA share adversely affects services that the city government could give to its constituents, Leonardia said.

“Our measly share in the IRA will not be enough to support the needs of our children for additional schools and educational facilities. It will not be enough to purchase cheap but quality medicine, nor cover expenses for health centers and hospitals. It will not be enough to insure peace and order in our communities, not enough for shelter needs for our homeless. It will not be enough for proper collection and waste management,” he said.

POSSIBLE LAY-OFFS

“We may have to sacrifice our casual employees – with insufficient funds for operation and implementation of projects and programs, we could be forced to lay-off workers,” he said.

For 2008, Bacolod will receive an IRA of P499 million instead of P540.9 million. This is a reduction of P41.8 million which could have been spent either on 5 kilometers of 2-lane concrete road, or 76 school rooms, or 1,171 units of artesian wells or 20 units traffic signal lights, he said.

“We are not against other municipalities becoming cities as long as they meet the requirements mandated by law. We are only fighting for due process,” he said.

FOLLOW WHAT LAW SAYS

“We call to our lawmakers to respect and follow the laws they themselves passed. We, the members of the League of Cities of the Philippines are untied in this issue,” he said.

The Silay City government, in a press statement yesterday, also announced that it is joining the LCP in opposing the conversion of the 16 municipalities into cities.

In today's flag ceremony in Silay City , officials and employees will also be wearing black arm bands with “IRA, Ibalik!” slogans on them, Silay Mayor Jose Montelibano said.

LCP has filed a petition to the Supreme Court questioning the constitutionality of the conversion, the press release said.

It also asked the Supreme Court to order the Department of Budget and Management not to release the additional IRA of the newly created cities, and instead put the funds in escrow until the case is finally resolved, the press release added.*CPG

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