Marcos: EO 138 review not an alternative to proposed charter change

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said that his order to review the previous administration's Executive Order (EO) No. 138 was not an alternative to the proposed Charter change still pending in Congress, but was an effort to ensure that the devolution of national government functions would be fair. Marcos said this after he ordered government agencies to study the EO for possible amendments, and to determine what national government functions should be devolved to local government units (LGUs) due to the Supreme Court's Mandanas Ruling. In an interview following the celebration of the Philippine Army's 126th anniversary, the President said his order had nothing to do with the proposed Charter change. "No. The Charter change efforts are directed at the economic provisions of the Constitution, as far as I understand. So that's what that is about," he told reporters in Taguig City. "The reason given by the proponents in the House and those in Senate is that they need to be changed because these conditions have changed. For us to take full advantage of the new economy, we have to amend the Constitution. So, that's not the same thing as what I think you are referring to," he added. Last month, the Chief Executive said that C[harter change was not his administration's priority](https://mb.com.ph/2023/2/13/marcos-charter-change-not-a-priority) as the government can still do many things, even with its present form. President Marcos explained that he ordered to review EO 138 to make sure that LGUs would get what they deserve, funding-wise, citing the "unfortunate" result that LGUs had become poorer than they were before the Mandanas Ruling was made. "Pag kinalkula mo yung makukuha nila na (If you calculate their would-be) extra IRA (internal revenue allotment) against the extra functions that we are saying we will devolve, lugi pa sila (they would suffer a loss)," he said. "They are in a poorer financial condition than they were before the Mandanas-Garcia Ruling, which is contrary to the spirit of the Mandanas-Garcia Ruling," he added. "So we have to reexamine Executive Order 138 of President Duterte. Titingnan natin para maging patas naman (We'll look into it so it would be fair). The conclusion that we arrived at [is] hindi pwede (it cannot be) one-size-fits-all," he continued. The Duterte administration issued EO 138 in  2021 to support the efficient implementation of the SC ruling on the Mandanas-Garcia case and strengthen the autonomy and empowerment of LGUs. It directs the full devolution of certain functions of the Executive Branch to the LGUs and creates a Committee on Devolution to monitor the implementation of the EO. The SC ruled in 2018 that the just share of LGUs from the national taxes is not limited to "national internal revenue taxes" collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue and other tax-collecting agencies. Under the Mandanas ruling, the national government is mandated to expand the share of LGUs in tax collection. On the other hand, LGUs must handle the responsibility of operating social services like agriculture, connectivity, and health within their jurisdictions.