PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan — Former presidential spokesperson and senatorial candidate Harry Roque campaigned for a federal form of government before some 2,500 Philippine foresters, who were here for a forestry management conference Thursday.
Roque, who was one of the resource speakers in the 18th national conference of members of the Society of Filipino Foresters, Inc. (SFFI), said unlike the current form of government, federalism does not deprive local government units (LGUs) of equitable shares of revenue sources of the national government.
He cited the case of Palawan, which is being deprived of its 40-percent share in the Malampaya Natural Gas Project (MNGP) despite the fact that its right is clearly stated in Republic Act No. 7160, or the Local Government Code of 1991.
“Pagdating naman sa 40-percent gross na dapat mapupunta sa lokal na pamahalaan, mula noong 2002, nagkakasuhan kami (dahil sa Malampaya) at hanggang ngayon, walang resolusyon ang kaso (On the 40-percent gross that should go to Palawan, since 2002, we already have a case and it is ongoing until now. It has no resolution yet),” he said.
The former Palace spokesperson noted that while Palawan supplies 40 percent of the power demand in Luzon, electricity supply in the province is unreliable due to constant power outages.
Roque said he was also the lawyer for Batangas Governor Hermilando Mandanas, who filed in 2012 a petition in the Supreme Court (SC) alleging that between 1992 and 2012, some PHP500 billion in Internal Revenue Allocation (IRA) was not released to LGUs across the country due to a mistaken calculation.
In 2018, the SC ruled that just shares of the IRA of LGUs must come from all national taxes, and not only from the internal revenue, which is the current practice.
Roque said it was a victory for the LGUs, but the national government filed a motion for reconsideration.
“We won in the Supreme Court. I told the Cabinet meeting that the best way to seek the nod of the people on federalism is to let them have a taste of what federalism is. Let’s give the 40-percent additional IRA. But they all voted to file a motion for reconsideration,” he added. (Gerardo Reyes, Jr./PNA)
