THE COMMISSION on Appointments (CA) on Wednesday has confirmed the appointment of Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Juanito Victor C. Remulla, who vowed to review the distribution of internal revenue allotment (IRA) to local government units.
“We have to examine how the IRA is computed,” the DILG chief, who earlier served as Cavite governor, said during his confirmation hearing.
In June, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said local government units (LGUs) will get a National Tax Allotment (NTA) of P1.034 trillion next year. Broken down, the DBM said that P237.96 billion will be released to provinces, P239.05 billion to cities, P350.68 billion to municipalities, and P206.92 billion to villages.
LGUs are required to allocate 20% of its NTA on development projects, and 5% on a Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund.
Mr. Remulla, younger brother of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla, replaced seasoned politician Benjamin “Benhur” de Castro Abalos Jr., who is eyeing a Senate seat in the 2025 midterm elections.
The DILG chief also said he aims to reduce the number of police generals to under 100 to reduce the “bloating” of Philippine National Police (PNP).
“We have 153 generals, and a lot of them are redundant… We’ve been talking to them, and I think we can streamline this down to maybe less than a hundred,” Mr. Remulla said, who earlier said he was seeking to trim the number to 25 from 133 generals.
“As a local chief executive, he is lauded for bringing improved delivery of public services to Caviteños, especially to those with disabilities, as well as providing Internet access to students of the province,” Senator Juan Miguel F. Zubiri said during his co-sponsorship speech of Mr. Remulla’s confirmation.
The Remullas hail from Cavite province, the nation’s second most vote-rich province with 2.3 million voters in 2022.
“His vision to digitize local government units is well-aligned with the global shift toward modernization, efficiency, and transparency in governance,” Senator Lorna Regina “Loren” B. Legarda told the plenary floor during her sponsorship speech. — John Victor D. Ordoñez