• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Negros Occidental will have an 18 percent increase in its National Tax Allotment (NTA) in 2025, which is equivalent to more than P900 million, Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson disclosed yesterday.
In 2023, Negros Occidental lost more than P700 million of its NTA due to reduced tax collections in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country.
With the increase in NTA, Lacson said they will continue to implement the programs they have funded, such as farm to market roads, among others. At the same time, he is also eyeing the restoration of the P300,000 assistance to each barangay of the province.
The NTA automatically appropriates the share of local government units, aggregately corresponding to 40 percent of the national taxes, based on the collection of the third fiscal year preceding the current fiscal year.
Lacson said the proposed budget of the provincial government of Negros Occidental for 2025 will be more than P5 billion.
Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman earlier disclosed that the NTA for LGUs for 2025 will be up 18.7 percent to P1.03 trillion, from this year’s P871.38 billion.
LGUs will get a higher share as the NTA is based on the 2022 revenue collection, which improved as the economy significantly bounced back from a two-year slump at the height of the COVID pandemic.
P50M ASSISTANCE
Lacson added yesterday that they have 30 days to distribute the P50 million given by the Office of the President to farmers and fisherfolk affected by the El Niño phenomenon in Negros Occidental.
The highly urbanized city of Bacolod also received P10 million.
A total of 8,315 farmers and fisherfolk in Negros Occidental, including Bacolod City, will receive P10,000 each.*
