-CASE DIGEST-
SUBJECT: LAW ON PUBLIC CORPORATION
PROVINCE OF BATANGAS
vs. ROMULO
G.R. No. 152774
May 27, 2004
Topic: Local Autonomy of LGUs
FACTS: Petitioner filed a petition to declare as unconstitutional and
void certain provisos contained in the General Appropriations Acts (GAA) of
1999, 2000 and 2001, insofar as they uniformly earmarked for each corresponding
year the amount of five billion pesos (?5,000,000,000.00) of the Internal
Revenue Allotment (IRA) for the Local Government Service Equalization Fund
(LGSEF). An Oversight Committee has been tasked to formulate and issue the
appropriate rules and regulations necessary for its effective implementation, and
imposed conditions for the release thereof.
ISSUE: WON said
provisos violate the constitutional precept on local autonomy.
RULING: Yes, the assailed
provisos infringe the Constitution and the Local Government Code of 1991.
The Constitution (Sec. 6, Art X) and the LGC 1991 (Sec. 18) explicitly
provides that LGUs shall have a just share, as determined by law, in the
national taxes which shall be automatically and directly released to them
without need of further action. Also, in Section 284 of the Local Government
Code provides that, beginning the third year of its effectivity, the LGUs’
share in the national internal revenue taxes shall be 40% and Section 285 on
the allocation to Local Government Units in the internal revenue allotment.
In the case at bar, the respondent put
on hold the distribution and release of the five billion pesos LGSEF and
subject the same to the implementing rules and regulations, including the
guidelines and mechanisms prescribed by the Oversight Committee from time to
time. The assailed resolutions effectively encroach on the fiscal autonomy
enjoyed by the LGUs and must be struck down. Hence, the provisos imposing
conditions for the release of LGU funds are unconstitutional.
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