‘Towns earning billions of pesos through monetization of IRA’

Local government units across the country are now earning billions of pesos through a monetization program using the funds released to them by President Arroyo.

Angono, Rizal Mayor Gerardo Calderon, secretary general of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP), said they have auctioned off P3.2 billion worth of investments certificate under the innovative and successful Monetization of the Internal Revenue Allotment (MIRA) program launched by the President.

Profits from the MIRA program are now being used by LGUs to fund various projects and programs for constituents and improvement of basic services.

Calderon said the monetization program allows the municipalities to partake their respective portions of the 2000 and 2001 unprogrammed MIRA at market-determined rates.

The venture, according to Calderon, was modeled after IRA monetization program of 2002 and was conceptualized and executed to alter future cash flows from the national government into the funds immediately needed by the different municipalities in the country.

Among the government agencies that supported the initiative included the Departments of Finance, Interior and Local Government, Budget and Management, and the Office of the President.

LMP national president and Binalonan, Pangasinan Mayor Ramon Guico said he arranged for a special purpose trust (SPT) with the LandBank of the Philippines to accept subscriptions from the municipalities taking part in the program.

This year, the SPT issued P3.2 billion worth of MIRA investment certificates through two branches based on the amount of subscription received last March 14 and April 18.

Among those who paid for MIRA certificates via public auction were the Government Services Insurance System (GSIS), Philippine Veterans Bank and the RCBC Capital Corp.

Calderon said the timeliness of the program was of great importance since the funds have to be redeployed to finance much needed local projects.

"Without the LMP monetization program my constituents would have to wait a long time for the funds to implement our programs," said a town mayor who joined the program.

"Having participated in the first tranch of the MIRA program last March 14, we have used the P1 million received from the monetization," he added.

Guico said local government chiefs should not ask what the government can do for us but rather what they can do for the national government.

"It is from local governance that the national government draws its strength," Guico told his colleagues at a gathering held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Makati City last Friday. — With Hazel Repangcol