Agusan del Norte Rep. Dale Corvera is pushing for the inclusion of municipal waters in the computation of the National Tax Allotment (NTA), arguing that the existing formula unfairly favors landlocked local government units.

Corvera, principal author of House Bill 3779, said the current formula under the Local Government Code considers land area but does not account for municipal waters that coastal LGUs are also responsible for managing and protecting.

Land area accounts for 25 percent of the criteria used in distributing the NTA among LGUs.

“There is a big disconnect because the national government only factors in dry land area when computing their financial support to LGUs through the NTA,” Corvera said.

“The current formula favors landlocked LGUs which has no municipal waters to take care of,” he added.

Corvera argued that excluding municipal waters fails to recognize the responsibilities of coastal LGUs over marine areas within their jurisdiction.

Under HB 3779, the 25 percent land-area component of the NTA formula would be revised to account for both land territory and municipal waters.

Corvera said the proposed change would address what he described as an “injustice to coastal LGUs” without requiring additional funding from the national government.

“Coastal LGUs do not seek for a larger overall slice of of the national budget, but rather fairness in computing their National Tax Allotment shares to bridge the resource gap so that all communities have fair chance at local economic growth,” he said.

The proposed 2027 National Expenditure Program earmarks P1.32 trillion for local governments to carry out programs and provide public services.

The allocation is largely based on tax collections from 2024, in accordance with provisions governing the LGUs’ share in national taxes.

Of the proposed allocations, municipalities are set to receive P448.84 billion, while cities and provinces will share P303.56 billion. Barangays are allocated P263.97 billion.