The House of Representatives Committee on Local Government has approved a piece of legislation that mandates the creation of Barangay Pulung Bulu in the City of San Fernando, Pampanga.
The panel– which is chaired by Valenzuela 1st district Rep. Rex Gatchalian–approved on first reading House Bill (HB) 182 during a panel hearing on Tuesday, Aug. 23.
The bill's principal author, Pampanga 3rd district Rep. Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales, filed the bill “to correct and remedy the inequitable situation of Barangay Pulung Bulu.”
The barangay itself was actually created in Sept. 25, 2002 by the San Fernando City Council through Ordinance No. 2002-010, Series of 2002.
But, as Gonzales explains, because the barangay was formed by the city council and not by Congress, “the community is not entitled to its share of Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA), since only those established by Congress are given IRA.”
“Barangay Pulung Bulu has been deprived of its rightful share of IRA under the Local Government Code. Since its creation, the population and development needs of the barangay have been increasing, but their current financial resources are no longer enough to meet their needs,” Gonzales, a deputy speaker, said on Aug. 23.
Under Gonzales’s measure, incumbent barangay officials will continue to hold office until the next elections, and that public infrastructure and facilities will be transferred to the newly-established barangay without costs or compensation.
According to Gonzales, San Fernando received P781,445,584 in IRA from the national government in 2020 and accrued a total local income of P1.145-billion.
“If the 2020 IRA were divided equally among 35 barangays, each barangay, including Pulung Bulu, would have been allotted P22.3 million,” Gonzales concluded.
A census taken by the Philippine Statistics Authority found that as of May 1, 2020, there were about 6,448 residents living in Pulung Bulu.