The 10 EMBO barangays have been excluded in Makati City's National Tax Allotment (NAT) for this year, the city government announced on Friday, Jan. 5.

“This means that Taguig has to assume full responsibility for the benefits and welfare of over 300,000 residents that are now under its jurisdiction,” City Administrator Claro Certeza said.

Certeza said the Department of Budget and Management's (DBM) Budget Memorandum No. 87-A dated Dec. 28, 2023, states that Makati City will only be receiving its NTA for the 23 remaining barangays under its jurisdiction which consist of the 20 barangays in District 1 plus Guadalupe Viejo, Guadalupe Nuevo, and Pinagkaisahan.

“It is now incumbent upon Taguig to take up the mantle of governance and welfare for these communities. This transition marks a new chapter, not only in the administrative dynamics of our cities, but also in the lives of the residents of these barangays. We trust that Taguig City will uphold the highest standards of service and care that these residents rightfully deserve,” Certeza said.

Under the DBM Memorandum, Makati will be receiving P1,006,144,469 for the fiscal year 2024. Prior to the removal of the EMBO barangays, Makati City used to receive an NTA allocation of P1,775,342,277.

However, the city administrator noted that the P770-million reduction in the NTA share of Makati will have negligible impact on the programs and services of the city government.

“Makati does not rely on the NTA because of our consistent tax collection performance. Locally-sourced revenues are more than enough to fund our 2024 budget, not to mention the savings gained from the subsidies previously given to the EMBO barangays,” he explained.

Based on the initial report from the City Finance Department, Makati's total revenue collection as of December 2023 has reached P24.8 Billion. The bulk of the year’s income came from local sources led by Business Tax with P12,488,452,736.24, followed by Realty Tax with P8,688,442,661.55.

For 2024, the City Council has approved a total city budget of P19.7 billion. The Social Development Sector got the biggest share with P4.1 billion allocated for the Health Sub-Sector, P3.2 billion for the Education Sub-Sector, and P1.8 billion for the Social Welfare Sub-Sector.

In 2023, Makati City allocated P1.4 billion to primary health care management and another P1.6 billion to fund the patient care program of Ospital ng Makati. It  also  allotted  around  P2 billion for education-related programs, and about P1 billion for social welfare initiatives.

The NTA is distributed among LGUs – provinces, cities, municipalities, and barangays – using a specific formula. It takes into account population (50%), land area (25%), and equal sharing (25%). 

In its memorandum, the DBM acknowledged the effect of this decision in the land areas, and subsequently, the NTA allocations, of Makati and Taguig.  

The city government explained the NTA is a system for distributing national tax revenues to local government units, replacing the previous Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA).

In 2023, the Supreme Court affirmed its 2021 ruling that declared Taguig City, not Makati, has jurisdiction over the Fort Bonifacio Military Reservation where the Bonifacio Global City (BGC) and the EMBO barangays - Pembo, Comembo, Cembo, South Cembo, West Rembo, East Rembo, Pitogo, Rizal, Northside and Southside.