Matobato works as construction worker in P’gasinan

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

News headline recently:  “Duterte: ‘Susmaryosep,’ CIA is planning to kill me”.

Here's an excerpt of my Q & A last April with then presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte:
ME: Sir, are you not threatened by the pronouncements that the military and the U.S will harm you?

MAYOR DUTERTE: If God wants me to be there. If it’s destiny to be assassinated…hangang diyan lang ako!

Confessed hired assassin Edgar Matobato. Photo Credit: PhilNews 

ME: They are apprehensive because they said when you become president it means good bye to EDCA (Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement) and the military aid from the U.S would stop…?
DUTERTE: Who?! Mga Amerikano?!
ME: I read that on the community page of the military at Face Book.

DUTERTE: Let us see why? Are we dependent on the United States for our problem here?
Is the United States ready to die with us for us on the Spratly issue?
It we start war because talagang hinde na makapasok ang fishermen we are deprived of a rich fishing ground, and we declare war, is America, is EDCA useful to us? May pakinabang ba sila sa atin?

***

Lingayen Mayor Josefina ”Iday” Castaneda told me her first class town losses P5 million share from the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) while San Fabian Mayor Constante Agbayani and Mangaldan Mayor Bona Fe D. Parayno answered my same poser that they lost P3 million and P1.5 million, respectively.

It was my friend Agbayani, whose natural demeanors amused me, who said that the reduction of his IRA was blamed to “cadastral”, while the two lady mayors nodded their heads when I told them the depletion were probably due to the entry of the new towns in the country.

IRA, that came from taxes collected by the BIR, is likened to a pie. It is divided by recipients 81 provinces, 145 cities and 1,489 towns all over the archipelago.

That’s why brass of the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP)  have been rejoicing because new cities like Baybay, Bogo, Catbalogan, Tandog, Lamitan, Borongan, Tayabas, Tabuk, Bayugan, Batac, Mati, Guihulngan, Cabadbaran, El Salvador, Carcar, and Naga have been reverted by the Supreme Court last  August this year to municipalities.

Inclusion of these 16 cities means a loss of P40 to P100 million of IRA a year to each of the 122- member LCP.