Recto: Marcos to highlight higher LGU tax shares in 5th Sona

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is expected to highlight the increase in the share of local government units (LGUs) from national tax collections in his fifth State of the Nation Address (Sona) on July 27, according to Executive Secretary Ralph Recto.

The National Tax Allotment (NTA) for LGUs is set to rise to 1.32 trillion in 2027, an increase of almost P130 billion from the 2026 allocation, Recto said in a press release on Wednesday.

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“As a former local executive official himself, the president sees and honors these as people’s entitlements. These are guaranteed plowbacks that will go from big cities to the remotest barangays,” he said, adding that the 2027 amount is based on the 2024 internal revenue collections as mandated by law.

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Recto said the NTA will be “one of the biggest ticket items” in the proposed 2027 national budget, which the Department of Budget and Management is currently finalizing.

“That indexation is set in stone, beyond alteration. As such, they are in the nature of automatic appropriations,” Recto said.

“The law and regulations state that the shares of local governments are based on the collection of national taxes,” he added.

As to the funding source of the P1.19 trillion NTA, Recto said P990.68 billion will come from the Bureau of Internal Revenue collections, P329.09 billion from the Bureau of Customs collections, and P63.6 million from other collections certified by the Bureau of the Treasury.

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Under the established NTA allocation formula, Recto said 83 provinces will collectively receive P303.6 billion; 149 cities, P303.6 billion; 1,491 municipalities, P448.7 billion; and 41,912 barangays, P264 billion.

In 2026, Davao City received the largest allocation at P10.1 billion, nearly 15 percent higher than its 2025 share.

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Meanwhile, the biggest recipients in the National Capital Region were Quezon City (P9.82 billion, 15 percent increase), Manila (P6.09 billion, 14 percent increase), Caloocan City (P5.5 billion, 14 percent increase), Taguig City (P4.40 billion, 18 percent increase), and Pasig City (P3.05 billion, 17 percent increase). /das

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