Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) Watch

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines’ National Secretariat for Social Action (CBCP-NASSA) monitors the allocation and use of the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) of barangays for local development projects. The goal of this project is to encourage transparency at the local government unit (LGU) level and allow constituents to become more active partners in community building.

A Memorandum of Understanding between CBCP-NASSA and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) was signed on 25 February 2005 by NASSA’s Executive Director Sr. Rosanne Mallillin and DILG Secretary Angelo Reyes.
After several consultation meetings with the Department of Budget and Management and Barangay League officials, NASSA organized and trained its monitoring teams composed of Basic Ecclesial Community (BEC) members in 27 dioceses nationwide. Their objective is to assess the use of the 20% development funds of about 85 barangays within the dioceses. A total of P151.62 billion in IRA funds were released by DBM in 2005. 

Research showed that IRA computation could be rigged by increasing land area or population data. IRA is computed based on official land area, population of a specific LGU, and equal sharing. The project team was informed that a barangay with a population of 100 persons should get an IRA of at least P80,000 a year, which goes up depending on the population of the barangay. Initial findings also indicated that some barangay officials used the funds for “observation or exposure trips.”

LGUs can withdraw IRA funds on a month-to-month basis. LGUs cannot withdraw their IRAs in advance. Under the Local Government Code (LGC) of 1991, LGUs should appropriate no less than 20% of their IRA for development projects. Though 20% is expected for development projects, LGUs had invoked the principle of local autonomy to define the details of their expenditures.

The project team recommended that barangay officials must be obligated to report their IRA and its usage, and Barangay Development Councils (BDC) should have more representatives from other sectors. The LGC mandates barangays to accommodate local organizations, including Church-based groups like BECs, as members in the BDC. BECs’ representation in the BDC could help prevent corruption and ensure the proper use of the development budget.