Vice President Leni Robredo hopes that the Mandanas ruling will pave the way for the people’s direct participation in forming programs for affected sectors as well as in the budget process.

Robredo said during a press briefing in Sorsogon on Friday, Oct. 29, that the infusion of additional funds to local government under the Mandanas ruling would open up opportunities for close coordination between the local government units (LGUs) and their constituents in rolling out programs that will benefit them.

The Mandanas ruling refers to the 2018 decision of the Supreme Court in Mandanas et al. v. Executive Secretary, et al. (G.R. Nos. 199802 and 208488) that the IRA, which is the share of LGUs in national taxes, should be computed based on all national taxes and not just on national internal revenue taxes.

“Kasi parati ko naman itong sinasabi na yung mga solusyon sa problema on the ground, dapat manggaling sa mga taong apektado. Halimbawa, iyong mga mangingisda, they are among the most marginalized o pinakamahirap. Ano ba yung nararapat na mga programa sa kanila? Dapat hindi kaming mga pulitiko yung nagpaplano nun (I always say that the solution to the problems on the ground should come from the affected people. For example, the fishermen, they are among the marginalized. What are the programs that must be implemented for them? The plan must not come from us, politicians),” Robredo said.

The affected sectors, the Presidential aspirant said, must be given the mechanism to be part of the process so that the program that will be rolled out also came from them.

She expressed her belief that direct participation of the people would make government programs more responsive, as well as encourage government officials to do better because they work together with ordinary citizens.

“Advocate ako ng people’s councils kasi ang pakiramdam ko kailangan nagproprovide tayo ng espasyo, nagproprovide tayo ng (I am an advocate of people's councils because I believe we need to provide) spaces for people to directly participate in governance, and etong Mandanas ruling is a very good opportunity for that,” Robredo said.

Her late husband, Interior and Local Governments Secretary Jesse Robredo, implemented the Bottom-up Budgeting program (BUB) during his term, which she sought to institutionalize with the Participatory Budget Process Bill she filed when she was still in the House of Representatives.

The Vice President, however, said that in order to attain the full potential of the Mandanas ruling among LGUs, it should be well-implemented.

“Napakalaking opportunity siya kasi talagang lolobo yung kanilang IRA (Internal Revenue Allotment). Pero having said that, lalaki yung opportunity, pero kailangan kasing maayos ‘yung roll out para ma-harness yung lahat ng opportunities available (It is a great opportunity for them, they will have a bigger IRA. But having said that, they will gain bigger opportunities but the roll out needs to be done properly to harness all opportunities available),” Robredo said.

The Vice President added that the implementation of the ruling requires close coordination between LGUs and the national government to ensure that the former will not be left alone to handle the delivery of basic services to the people.