’Gov’t to study EO on devolved local functions’

By Vince Lopez

THE national government is studying "very seriously" Executive Order No. 138, considering the existing technical capabilities of local government units (LGUs) and reduced tax allotment this year, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said on Wednesday.

"We will now use this one year to carefully study the 138. Let's see if there are functions that are given locally, but they shouldn't really be local," the President said in a speech during the general assembly of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) at the Manila Hotel.

"And so that’s what we are examining, expect as I said that we are taking very seriously the issues that have come out from the Mandanas ruling and how we will implement it because hopefully by next year, by 24 our collection will improve, because on 2021, it improved slightly, our economy slightly flourished, maybe we can get something really," the President added.

EO No. 138, which directs the full devolution of certain functions of the executive branch to the LGUs, was issued to aid the efficient implementation of the Supreme Court Ruling on the MandanasGarcia case and strengthen the autonomy and empowerment of LGUs.

The President described the implementation of the Mandanas ruling as one of the most significant issues faced by the government.

"I’m sure everybody is aware of that and wondering what is really going on," the President said. (See full story online at manilastandard.net)

House...

From A1 constitutional amendments panel, sponsored the measure on Wednesday.

"The compelling reason is that this institution cannot turn its back from the truth and reality that the 1987 Constitution needs to be reviewed for it is the third most restrictive in the world and the most restrictive in ASEAN. Its inflexibility and restrictiveness hampers foreign direct investments to come in as much as they do in other countries," Rodriguez said.

He cited the public hearings conducted by the House which showed that majority of the stakeholders were in favor of the proposed amendments.

“The result shows that out of 552 reactors and respondents, 424 or 77% are in favor, 109 or 20% are against and 19 or 3% abstained. In the mode preferences, 226 or 41% are for Constitutional Convention, 91 or 16% are for Constituent Assembly, 77 or 14% are for People’s Initiative and 158 expressed their no preference or 29%,” Rodriguez said.

Deputy Speaker Aurelio Dong Gonzales said Filipinos are "expecting an exhaustive deliberation of this Resolution of Both Houses No. 6." (See full story online at manilastandard. net)

Senators...

From A1 lawmakers hoped would “eventually lead to a richer economic partnership” between the country and Europe.

"As you are all aware, the EU has been quite worried about the war on drugs and the extrajudicial killings happening in the past. We werediscussing this, and we are also very relieved to hear that right now the Philippines is working more towards rehabilitation and prevention," Neumann said.

"We have also discussed other issues of human rights and I think it has been a fruitful and constructive meeting that makes me believe that we are moving towards a more constructive engagement for the future," she added.

During the closed meeting, Tolentino said senators were able tomaintain that ICC has no jurisdiction over the Philippines and explained the country's side on the issue of extrajudicial killingsduring the past administration, as well as the resolutions filed in Congress defending Duterte from ICC prosecution.

Tolentino also downplayed the “bickering” between fellow Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa – the national police chief during Duterte’s regime -- and a Spanish parliamentarian. He said the Spaniard's voice was just loud because he was talking through an interpreter, as he does not know the English language.

The dialogue, also attended by EU Ambassador to the Philippines Luc Véron, was fruitful, said Tolentino, who chairs the Senate justice panel.

"We discussed a lot of issues concerning the entire universe of human rights issues. Moving forward, we look at revitalizing our gaps. We answered some of their concerns as well," he said.

Neumann stressed that relations between the EU and the Philippines have always been very close.