|
P12.5B
monetization gets green light, Govs ask for early release
Local
governments will finally get their share in the IRA differentials
owing to the reenacted budgets for the years 2001 and 2004,
but as to how soon, there are still no definite answers.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed on May 12, 2008 Executive
Order No. 723 for the release of P12,576,938,000 for the LGUs’
IRA differentials for 2001 and 2004, either on installment
basis for seven years from 2009 to 2015 or through a monetization
program.
During
the Special General Assembly of the League of Provinces of
the Philippines, conducted in partnership with the Department
of Agriculture and held last May 13, the governors present
agreed to earmark 50% of the proceeds from the monetized amount
to support the rice sufficiency program of the national government.
Since
the agreement was to allocate part of the monetization proceeds
for the government’s rice sufficiency program, League
national chairman and Camarines Sur Gov. LRay F. Villafuerte
Jr. raised the critical question on how long it would take
to complete the whole process.
Representatives of the Land Bank of the Philippines assured
that in this round of monetization it would take them between
one to two days to release the proceeds to the LGUs from the
time the latter are able to submit all the requirements.
Villafuerte cited that during the monetization program in
2006, the whole process took about five months, and it took
the LBP a month to release the proceeds.
Dir. Carmencita Delantar said the Department of Budget and
Management would need another week to complete the computation
of the share of all the LGUs, and issue the corresponding
Notice of Payment Schedule.
On
the other hand, according to Finance Undersecretary Jeremias
Paul Jr., the Department of Finance has already submitted
to the DBM the confirmation letter acknowledging that the
P12.5 billion is an obligation of the national government.
LPP
president and Misamis Occidental Gov. Loreto Leo S. Ocampos
proposed to the fertilizer traders if the LGUs can procure
fertilizers from them on loan, using 50% of the proceeds of
the monetized amount as collateral since time is of the essence
and
the end of the planting season is just six weeks away.
At
the same time, Marinduque Gov. Jose Antonio Carrion suggested
that, in order to facilitate the release of the proceeds of
the monetization, the LBP and the Development Bank of the
Philippines should create just one window for the program.
Likewise,
Gov. Daisy A. Fuentes of South Cotabato requested that the
LPP look for better deals, “experience showed that because
of middlemen, some LGUs had to pay a higher interest rate.
A lot of LGUs were hoodwinked by these facilitators.”
She added that for this round of monetization, the League
should be the only negotiating party insofar as the provinces
are concerned. (AJSanchez)
|
.gif)
