Marcos to national agencies: List functions devolved to LGUs

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos has ordered national government agencies to complete the list of functions and services to be devolved to local government units (LGUs) and to finish the study on the full devolution initiative by the first quarter of 2024 in line with the implementation of the Mandanas-Garcia ruling.

According to the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), Marcos underscored during a meeting at Malacañang on Dec. 21 the need for defining the functions and services of LGUs so they can be properly funded and implemented.

“Should the LGUs lack the funds to implement the functions and services, the national government should have a program to assist them,” the President was quoted by the PCO as saying.

The President ordered the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), in collaboration with the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines, to come up with a list of basic functions and services that the LGUs should be performing based on their Devolution Transition Plans.

The DILG is given until January 2024 to present the list to the President, the PCO said.

Marcos also directed the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) to conduct a sensitivity analysis on the most that the government can gain from its investments.

The NEDA has also been tasked to recommend ways to better implement a phased-in devolution, including its timeline based on LGU capacity.

Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman earlier said the Department of Budget and Management and other concerned agencies are formulating measures to enable LGUs to assume their devolved functions by 2027.

In a speech at the 4th General Assembly of the League of Provinces of the Philippines in Pampanga in May, Marcos said he would issue an executive order identifying the functions that solely belong to the LGUs.