Sen. Pimentel's Letter | Supreme Court Decision | Article in the Phil. Daily Inquirer

Letter of Sen. Pimentel on Supreme Court's IRA Decision

July 21, 2000


To my fellow advocates of local autonomy:

      On  April  1, 1998, I filed a petition before  the  Supreme

Court seeking to prohibit the President from withholding portions

of  the  Internal Revenue Allotment intended for local government

units. I made this recourse in an effort to uphold the rights  of

local government units to the automatic release of the IRA.

      Thank God, last July 19, 2000, the Supreme Court upheld our

petition and ruled in favor of local autonomy, declaring:

           "A  basic feature of local fiscal autonomy is the

     automatic release of the shares of LGUs in the national

     internal revenue. This is mandated by no less than  the

     Constitution.  The  Local  Government  Code   specifies

     further that the release shall be made directly to  the

     LGU concerned within five (5) days every quarter of the

     year  and  shall not be subject to any lien or holdback

     that  may  be  imposed by the national  government  for

     whatever   purpose   ...   Such   withholding   clearly

     contravenes  the  Constitution  and  the  law  ...  Any

     retention is prohibited."

     This is another victory for us. We can rest assured that the

share  of  LGUs  in  the  national taxes  will  be  automatically

released, this time without any hindrance coming from the central

government. Surely, this would go a long way in accelerating  the

badly needed development programs and projects in your area.

     Thank you and God bless.

                            Very truly yours,

                            (Sgd.) AQUILINO Q. PIMENTEL, JR.