Barangays to get P35-billion IRA share next year

The country’s barangays will get a hefty P35-billion share in next year’s P183.9-billion Internal Revenue Allotment as government revenues rise, Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. said yesterday.

The IRA is the local government’s collective share from 40 percent of internal revenues collected three years earlier.

Four provinces will get more than P1 billion each in IRA share for their barangays: P1.143 billion for Pangasinan, P1.222 billion for Iloilo, P1.313 billion for Cebu, and P1.037 billion for Leyte.

On the other hand, Metro Manila’s 1,693 barangays will share among themselves P3.145 billion IRA fund, up from the P2.818 billion for this year.

To assist the country’s 41,972 barangays in efficient budgeting, the Department of Budget and Management published the 150-page Budget Operations Manual for Barangays or BOMB.

Andaya said the handbook’s catchy acronym is expected to make it popular among village officials. The handbook is intended to help them do away with inferior planning concepts, bad budget habits and defective budget accountability protocols.

BOMB handbook itemizes steps on the proper barangay budgeting process including: identifying sources of revenues, determining actual and estimated expenditure level, as well as budget preparation, authorization, review, execution and accountability.

Andaya said the DBM earlier launched a nationwide training program for local executives on the BOMB handbook.

The training program kicked off in Cebu City last week attended by DBM officials based in the Visayas and Mindanao.

In his speech before training participants, Andaya urged them to simplify and translate the manual texts into their respective dialects to make the handbook more useful.

Next year’s IRA of P183.9 billion is P17.5 billion bigger than this year’s. — Aurea Calica