President Marcos promises EO on LGU functions by year’s end

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos has pledged to issue an executive order identifying the functions that solely belong to local government units (LGUs) in compliance with the Mandanas ruling before the end of the year.

Marcos made the commitment yesterday in a speech at the 4th General Assembly of the League of Provinces of the Philippines in Clark, Pampanga.

“We gave ourselves until the end of the year 2023,” the President said. “And I will sign another executive order putting into place all – and defining very clearly which of the services, which of the functions belong to the local government and which belong to the national government.”

In March, Marcos ordered the review of Executive Order No. 138, which was issued by his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte, for possible amendments and to determine what national government functions should be devolved to LGUs.

Marcos defended his decision to delay the implementation of EO 138, which directs the full devolution of certain functions of the executive branch to the LGUs, to ensure respective areas would be equipped with additional budget and training to launch their own programs.

Addressing the gathering of provincial governors, he also underscored the importance of a harmonized relationship between the national government and the LGUs.

“You are not working in a vacuum,” Marcos told them. “We are watching, we are asking, we are consulting with you. And in that way, we will come out with a good executive order at the end of the year for a good implementation of the very important Supreme Court decision now we call the Mandanas-Garcia ruling,” said Marcos.

Marcos, who previously served as vice governor, governor and representative of Ilocos Norte, assured the top LGU executives that there are functions that will be devolved. “But the difference here is that devolving the function has a concurrent item, concurrent funding, concurrent training. So, we are trying to get around that,” he said.

Marcos said services that really should be expected of the national government are those that are nationwide in scope.

“Now, the hybrid areas are things like health, education where we need to work together,” he said.

The Mandanas-Garcia ruling fully transfers the delivery of basic services to LGUs, stemming from a 2013 petition made by Batangas Gov. Hermilando Mandanas and former Bataan governor Enrique Garcia Jr. before the Supreme Court on LGU shares of the internal revenue allotment or IRA. — Sheila Crisostomo