“Innovate. Engage. Serve.” These were the three key messages conveyed by President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos, Jr. after he inducted leaders of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) last week. He advised the local leaders to welcome innovations, “in seeking and employing the best solutions for our people,” and engage the private sector, especially in infrastructure development and digital transformation. The President assured the local executives of support from the national government in undertaking preparations for the implementation of full devolution of functions, including the realization of Devolution Transition Plans for their respective localities. Full devolution is expected to be implemented by 2024; hence, local governments would have to work hard in the next 15 months to ensure their preparedness. The President reminded his audience that the local government support fund provided by the national government seeks to ensure that “no LGU (local government unit) shall be left behind in the implementation of full devolution.” According to a primer prepared by the Department of Budget and Management: “Full devolution was initiated by the national government after the Supreme Court ruled that the determination of the just share of the LGUs should not be based solely on national internal revenue taxes but on all national taxes.” The SC ruling became final and executory on April 10, 2019, affirming its earlier decision promulgated in July 3, 2018, favoring the petitions filed separately by Hermilando Mandanas and Enrique Garcia, Jr., erstwhile provincial governors of Batangas and Bataan, respectively, when both of them served as members of the House of Representatives in the 15th Congress. Hence, this landmark Supreme Court decision has become known as the Mandanas-Garcia ruling. The national government was given three years within which to fully comply with the judgment. Hence, it was only in the 2022 General Appropriations Act, or the national budget, when the government began allocating to the LGUs their expanded share of all national taxes. Based on the certifications issued by the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Bureau of Customs, and Bureau of the Treasury (BTr), the fiscal implication of the SC ruling implementation is about P959.04 billion, which is equivalent to a 37.89 percent increase or around P263 billion from the 2021 internal revenue allocation (IRA) shares of LGUs. In the message that he delivered after inducting the LMP’s leaders, the President reiterated their role in promoting a people-centered bureaucracy within the communities they have sworn to serve during their term as local chief executives. The LMP was created under Section 496 of the Local Government Code of 1991 with the mandate to “organize for the primary purpose of ventilating, articulating and crystallizing issues affecting municipal government administration, and securing, through proper and legal means, solutions thereto.” The citizenry expects their local leaders to perform capably so that the efficient delivery of essential public services would enable them to lead comfortable and fulfilling lives.