The Philippine government continues to find ways to revitalize a sluggish economy from recession and to overcome an ongoing pandemic with a national public health infrastructure that is barely coping with its deleterious effects.  While attention is presently focused on ramping up vaccinations to facilitate the reopening of the economy, the Department of Finance is also prodding local government units (LGUs) to improve and optimize their revenue-raising capacity. This comes after the DOF’s Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF) had earlier lowered revenue targets for LGUs from an initial pre-pandemic goal of P321.6 billion to P223.9 billion, or 30 percent lesser. From this, P165.2 billion is expected to come from cities, P26.47 billion from municipalities, and P32.32 billion from provinces. The DOF’s thrust is to continually build the country’s fiscal resilience that is essential for achieving sustained economic growth, with or without a pandemic. As the national government tries to stretch every available resource to stimulate the economy, it recognizes the LGUs’ vital role. Capacity-building from the ground up is key.  The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Local Governance Reform Project is designed to give the capacity of LGUs for revenue generation a much-needed boost. The project will bolster the revenue collection capacity of LGUs via the adoption of new digital tools and improvement of institutional development and policy support for property tax valuation and collection. In supporting this program, the ADB points out: “The Local Governance Reform Program (LGRP) … is empowering and equipping LGUs to meet the needs of citizens and ensure they deliver services aligned with local preferences, improve their capacity to raise their own revenue, and lower the cost of doing business for the private sector.” Aside from lowering the cost of doing business, ease of doing business is a parallel priority concern.  Local governments are at the frontlines of serving citizens’ needs at the grassroots or community level.  LGUs’ primary sources of revenues are real property taxes, revenues from economic enterprises or business taxes, fees from licenses and permits, regulatory fees, service and user charges, toll fees and other receipts. Recently, the national government called out the LGUs’ unauthorized collection of pass-through fees from cargo trucks conveying food and products plying roads within their territory.  This is an example of undesirable over-reach that creates ill will among businesses.  Recall, too, that when President Duterte fumed at the telecommunications carriers’ “poor service,” his attention was called to the bureaucratic maze created by the LGUs that stalled the erection of cell site towers. There is no substitute for good governance that is citizen-friendly.  If LGUs would abide by their own self-proclaimed Citizen’s Charters and deliver efficient service, they would earn the respect and support of their constituents.  If they persist in enforcing unreasonable levies and in being aloof and unfriendly to the public, governors, mayors and local officials will get their come-uppance in the elections when their real bosses exercise their sovereign will.