By ANNA MAE YU LAMENTILLO, GMA NEWS

If it were up to the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP), municipal water should be included in the estimate of Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) – the share of local government units from tax collections.   “Ang computation based on population and area. Hindi kasama ang municipal waters,” LMP national president Donato Marcos said in an interview with GMA News Online, referring to the body of water covered by a particular municipality.   Under the Local Government Code, local government units (LGUs) receive 40 percent from the national internal revenue (taxes) with municipalities getting 34 percent while cities and provinces receive 23 percent, and barangays get 20 percent.   Population, land area, and equal sharing are factored into how much allotment an LGU should get.   “Pero yung municipal water is the direct source of livelihood nung mga maliliit nating mangingisda, nung maliliit nating coastal constituency,” he added.

Impact of climate change?

Marcos, who also serves as municipal mayor of Paombong, noted that climate change and the unpredictability of weather have drastic impact on almost 400 coastal municipalities.   “Ang Malolos, 40 years nang hindi binabaha. Ang Paombong, though low-lying, 28 years nang hindi binabaha. Pero nitong kay ‘Pedring’ na sinundan ni ‘Kiel’… Ngayon, every year, binabaha na kami,” Marcos said.   With the shift in the situation, Marcos said that coastal municipalities dependent on the produce of municipal waters were “paralyzed” for four months.   “Kapag nasisira ang municipal waters, ang laki-laki ng problema ng mga coastal municipalities. Kasi doon umiikot ang pamumuhay ng mga kababayan natin,” he noted.   “So, isipin mo yung na-dedeprive sa pakinabang sana sa IRA,” the LMP president said.   “Kung masasama sana natin ito, may mga programa tayong magagawa para sa sustainability of our municipal waters. Kasi siyempre, itong climate change na ito… napaka-unpredictable. So, dapat, maging anticipative. So dapat, mapangalagaan natin, maprotektahan natin,” he added.

Source: GMA News