IT has taken 30 years since the enactment of the Local Government Code of 1991 before the full devolution of functions envisioned by the code has finally and irrevocably been set in motion, thanks to the Supreme Court ruling on the Mandanas-Garcia case. The national government will have to give up a large chunk of tax revenues to local government units (LGUs) who in turn will assume greater responsibilities.

The internal revenue allotment (IRA), or national tax allotment of LGUs will increase by 37.9 percent next year, from P263.5 billion to P959 billion ("Implications of the SC ruling on the Mandanas-Garcia IRA case" by Pamela Diaz-Manalo et al., August 2021). The affected national government agencies have submitted devolution transition plans and coordination is being done with LGUs in order to ensure that the transition will not affect service delivery. Full devolution will be completed by 2024.

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