The Philippine Local Fiscal Administration

In the Philippines took three var.s- devolution, deconcentration and delegation. As Carlno affirms, the framers of the 1987 Constitution institutionalize decentralisation with the end-view of realizing democracy and maturement especially at the grassroots level. devolution paved room for the transfer of political power from the central establishment to the topical anaesthetic anaesthetic anesthetic political sympathies activity wholes.This transfer of power and functions was accompanied by the render of a higher Internal R stock-stillue Al circumstancesment (IRA), broader appraise understructure and a just sh ar In the subject ealth to pay devolved responsibilities and training of various goods and run. This was accompanied by deconcentration which is the transfer of administrative powers and functions from central offices of disposal agencies to the field offces at the regional, provincial, and municipal/city level.In consonance with the concept that topical ana esthetic giving medication units are to a greater extent responsive to the needs of their communities, deconcentration was institutionalized vis-a- vis devolution as a means tor national government agencies (NGAs) to provide aid to LGUs by etung standards In the Implementation of various programs and monitor the operation and services of the LGUs along the different socio-economic and political dimensions.Contrary to the past practices wherein the central government through and through the national government agencies (NGAs) commits a degree of control in the carrying into action of programs at the LGU level, deconcentratlon aims to lessen, If not remove, the control from the national government and replace it with supervisory functions. Ideally, through deconcentration, NGAs set standards and supervise LGUS provision of various services to the lodge (i. DOH and LGLJ health services). decentralisation in the Philippines to a fault took the form of delegation, or what otherwis e(a) author calls as debureaucratization. This was the turn out of the surmounting clamor for participatory governance and nimble citizenship during the ouster of the late President Ferdinand Marcos through the Peoples Power Revolution and even prior to and after the said historic event. The author of the Consitution saw it fit, as a response to the call of the times, to put greater emphasis on the Involvement of non- government organizations, peoples organizations, and the private sector in governance.In this way, democracy and knowledge was believed to be realized when the voices ot the marginalized, poor and other people aggrupations are hear and considered In decision-making at the different government level. In contrast to the arrive of other countries, decentralization In the Philippines took a complete form. This may be attributed to the political atmosphere in the 1980S- 1 BOOs conducive to decentralization and elective form of government. Colombia deconcentrated its s tate services but placed a strangle In the delegation and devolution of powers.Same can be said with the experiences of Mexico and Togo. The Philippines also has a legal framework conducive to democratic decentralization. Decentrallzatlon tnroDs In tne condition x 0T tne IYB/ constltutlon wnere tne congress is mandated to enact a topical anesthetic government principle which shall provide for a more responsive and accountable local government structure instituted through a system of decentralization. Countries like Spain and chinaware lack this legal framework despite substantial decentralization.This means that decentralization in the Philippines possesses a degree of permanency that would ensure the continuity in LGUs exercise of devolved powers and functions. In the words of Katorobo, decentralization in the Philippines has a more steadfast environment (Katorobo, 2004). The system of decentralization in the country is also more responsive to the needs of the local communit y. Unlike the experiences of India, China and Russia where powers and functions were and devolved at the state and regional levels, decentralization in the Philippines reaches down to the basic unit of government, the barangays.Due to our countrys bent towards democracy, the Philippines has a higher form of decentralization as compared to other countries (Ibid. . The central government has transferred more powers and functions to the local governments and has provided more avenues for civil conjunction engagement in local governance. Role of Local pecuniary organisation in a Decentralized Setup The transfer of powers and functions to local government units (LGUs) necessitates the transfer and redistribution of financial resources. LGUs need sources and means to finance devolved services.Thus, the Local Government Code of 1991 provided LGUs with an increase in the IRA share, broader tax base, and a sightly share in the national wealth. The redistribution of financial resources i s essential for LGUs to realize local development as more responsive services are provided to the community. Local fiscal administration plays an important role in the attainment of local development as well as in the attainment of national goals. LGUs beget to maximize powers and functions particularly their taxing powers and other functions in aviation with revenue generation and resource allocation to hasten development at the local level.A good local fiscal administration is needed to realize inclusive growth and poverty reduction as utlined in the Philippine Development Plan 2011- 2016. Improvements in the different aspects of local fiscal administration- systems, structures, processes, officials and personnel, and insurance environment- is a means for the local government to obtain higher income levels to finance local government operations and services intended to uplift quick conditions in the communities. As stated in the Handbook of Local monetary Administration in the Philippines by Celestino, et. al. these utilitys may come in the form of new technology, good staffing patterns, adequate skills of ersonnel, heightened awareness of LGUs of available credit facilities, deepen capacity of LGU for development planning, and the presence of political will among others. These contribute to increase LGU revenues and improved delivery of services to the community. Ultimately, poor living conditions and issues on benevolent development (i. e. health diseases, malnutrition, illiteracy, unemployment, underemployment, environmental degradation, etc. ) are addressed when LGUs are able to provide more than adequate services.Improvements along these areas have an inwrought value to the society. A healthier and educated population is a way of eradicating poverty. Same is true with the provision and generation of Jobs at the local level. equivalent can De sala wltn eTTo rts to protect ana preserve ecological Dalance in any habituated community. These contri bute to the achievement of inclusive growth and eradication of poverty. Local Fiscal Administration 20 Years after the Codes Enactment A encompassing(prenominal) look at the 20- year Philippine experience of decentralization,however, shows that the country has succeeded only to a certain extent in its decentralization efforts.Llanto, in his iscussion paper, The duty assignment of Functions and Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations in the Philippines Twenty Years after Decentralization, has observe that expenditure responsibilities with benefits confined within the territorial Jurisdiction of local governments were powerful assigned to LGUs. By these, he means that the Code correctly devolved functions and responsibilities on social demands and concerns that LGUs are in the best positions to respond to. He also mentioned that the Code ensured a clear tax- expenditure assignment.Nonetheless, despite achiever tories on decentralization particularly on local fiscal autonomy, Llanto ob served pressing issues that need to be addressed if the country has to succeed in its decentralization efforts. These issues are 1. The presence of two- track delivery system where NGAs realize devolved functions falling under the LGUs. 2. The increase in NGA budgets as a result of overlapping implementation of devolved programs 3. The misallocation of resources at the local level caused by the pace of the pork barrel. 4. The low locally- sourced revenues in comparison to the total LGU expenditure. 5.The IRA-dependency of LGUs . The mismatch in the increase of expenditures and the quality of services 7. The inequitable access to local tax bases where cities have broader taxing powers than the provinces and municipalities. 8. The inability to raise adequate local revenues to the absence seizure of competent staff and poor revenue generation systems. 9. The poor predictability in the size of the IRA. His suggestions to address these issues include the following 1. The conduct of reg ular local public expenditure review 2. The use of poverty index, human development index, or resource indicator instead of the equal sharing criteria. The improvement of local tax administration. 4. The review and updating of local tax codes. 5. The institutionalization of a monitoring and reward system to recognize good local government performance in fiscal administration. 6. The avoidance of the imposition of unfunded mandates by the identification of source of funding apart from the coffers of the local government units 7. The alinement building/ resource pooling among LGUs for activities and services with inter-urisdictional spillovers. There is still a lot of work to be done in our pursuit of successful decentralization nd the attainment of local development.Legislators and other policy makers have to cease and seriously consider the issues which surfaced in our first 20 years of decentralization. I believe that if we are to make any progress, incremental steps have to be ta ken towards countering these issues and challenges. And there is no importune time than the mystify to start providing interventions to the multiple concerns that confront the Philippine decentralization system.