The Mandanas Challenge

The LGU funding expansion brought about by the so-called “Mandanas Ruling” to start in 2022 is either a curse or a cure. It would be a cure if we will vote local chief executives who are knowledgeable in local governance and with utmost competence in fiscal and resource management and curse if we happen to elect the contrary. The LGUs, both the provincial and the municipal, can acquire more money because of such a ruling of the Supreme Court (SC). This means additional responsibilities to whoever wins in the forthcoming local elections. There is more money now to the LGUs than the national government that is why some congressmen though they are yet to complete their terms, they slid down to governorship for the next elections.

The Mandanas issue and the devolution of functions to the LGU, next to the responses on economic recovery and the road to new normal and in curbing the raging pandemic, among others, is a very crucial question to ask aspirants to LCE positions, namely, mayors and governors.

Looking back, the SC in 2018 granted and reaffirmed in 2019 the petitions of Batangas Gov. Hermilando “Dodo” Mandanas and former Bataan Gov. Enrique “Tet” Garcia Jr., under which LGUs’ IRA (Internal Revenue Allotment) would come from 40 percent of collections of all national taxes—the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) tax take plus the Bureau of Custom’s (BOC) collections of import duties and other taxes. At present, LGU’s IRA only came from two-fifths of national internal revenue taxes collected by the BIR. In response, the National Government has decided to reduce its workforce by devolving many functions formerly carried out by its agencies down to the level of the LGU. From now on, the IRA will be known as National Tax Allotments or NaTA.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed Executive Order No. 138 to set the timetable for the devolution, which is to be completed by 2024.

Depending on the quality of governance, the years 2022 onwards to 2024 are a delicate balance of economic growth and the delivery of basic social services. Our choice of mayor or governor, or elected officials in general, must know that there is a need for better oversight not only on the use of local fiscal resources but human resources as well.

In November 2019, Vice-Mayor Walter B. Marquez of Sablayan, having accurately followed the updates on the Mandanas-Garcia petition, authored Resolution No. 2019-II-SDM130 appreciating Gov. Mandanas for “leading the fight until victory the LGU shares in the form of IRA … “ saying that Sablayan and its barangays would benefit from it.

With the ruling in full swing, the DBM estimates showed that first-class municipalities such as Sablayan would have an increase of about P187.62 million to P1.01 billion. As the bigger IRA would carve a bigger chunk from the record P5.02-trillion national budget proposal for 2022, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said the functions to be devolved “must permanently be taken out from national agencies to empower LGUs to assume them.” Then-mayor Eduardo B. Gadiano and then Councilor Marquez likewise keep themselves abreast on the developments of the Mandanas-Garcia petition. With a push coming from Gadiano, Marquez dipped his fingers on the issue by crafting, as early as 2017, a legislative act authorizing the Philippine Regional Investment Corporation or PRIME to meet, study and discuss matters on the petition in various venues and halls on behalf of the Municipality of Sablayan free of charge. Under Gadiano’s watch in Sablayan as mayor, the partnership between Mandanas and the municipality on such a petition came into fruition.

What we need are local chief executives, at the municipal and provincial levels, or a set of elected officials for that matter, that would not neglect local revenue collection despite this. With this sudden increase in their allocation in the national revenues, the soon-to-be elected LGU officials, should not be negligent in local income generation. Marquez pointed out that the most important things as ever for voters and citizens are as follows: the improvement of citizens' participation in the budgeting process, the boosting of transparency and accountability, the civic monitoring of transfer and utilization of funds, and the monitoring of provision of social services in every barangay.

It appears that devolution, as sure as I am writing this, is already in the bucket. But I tell you, as we battle the pandemic in the next few years, we will also be facing a massive layoff of national government employees from all over the land.

The proposed establishment of new hospitals, for instance, would also fall under the aegis of the LGUs for health services is also fully devolved as per the EO of President Duterte. Chances are, the highly publicized establishment of a nationally-funded general hospital in the province with this development would pass into the eye of the needle, to say the least.

Also, this would not resolve the problem of the highly fragmented government system in the country and the LGUs perennial problem of neglecting its revenue-raising power.

In the hands of unscrupulous, traditional, overstaying, and inept or ham-fisted politicians, this development is a bane than a boon. So, the ball is in our hands come May 2022.

Since election season is fast approaching, our questions to aspirants and soon-to-be candidates should center on more significant issues such as their responses to the future effects of the Mandanas ruling than fandom-fanned and senseless queries, or gossips, surveys, and mudslingings under the guise of political analyses.

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(Photo: Jasper Francisco)

 

Beyond Sorrows: Remembering Kalibasib

It was truly depressing that Kali died on the very day when the whole country is celebrating Tamaraw Month, a celebration that centers on the protection and conservation of this critically endangered wild buffalo. This coming Sunday, October 10, 2021, we will be commemorating the first death anniversary of the last captive-bred Philippine tamaraw (Bubalus Mindorensis) known as Kalibasib or Kali. Kalibasib is short for “Kalikasang Bagong Sibol” (nature newly sprung).

The whole community of environmental activists and conservation advocates mourned the death of the animal considered as the ambassador for conservation who lived his entire 21 years in captivity at the Tamaraw Gene Pool Farm in Barangay Manoot, Rizal, Occidental Mindoro. Another tragic thing is, Kali passed away in the time of COVID-19 when movements of some groups and individuals who want to visit and see him for the last time are restricted.

Death Within a Celebration

The Tamaraw Month is declared under Presidential Proclamation No. 273, series of 2002, where the month of October of every year is declared as Special Month for the Conservation and Protection of the Tamaraw in Mindoro.

According to the Tamaraw Conservation Program or TCP, Kali was born on June 24, 1999, to his mother Mimi. The wildlife veterinarian who performed the necropsy on Kalibasib said the iconic land mammal had a cardiac failure that led to his death. Mimi, together with the rest of the twenty adult tamaraws who were taken care of under the TCP in 1980 came from its natural habitats in Mounts Aruyan, Malati- Siburan, all within the territorial jurisdiction of Municipality of Sablayan.

Equally distressing is the truth that Kali never seen his expected environment and he died away from home, just as though. But in this situation exists a good side, not to Kalib’s species but us humans. His captivity provided a chance for us human beings to see a tamaraw in bones and flesh. His life allowed us to have closer look at his kind for whatever ends. Kali opens us the rare opportunity of having a close encounter with his kind. 

Name Game

People from all over, journalists, environmentalists, students, professors, tourists, athletes, and scientists, name it, knows Kalibasib and were able to write many stories, researches, and studies about him or shared moments with him. Kalibasib was well known and could be Googled, while the girl who christened him as such is virtually unknown to everybody. The name Kalibasib was actually given by Nova Embanecido Zubiri, a resident of Bagong Sikat here in San Jose. Zubiri won a contest and brought home some cash and a plaque from DENR.

The competition was covered in a radio program called "Todo Pasada" aired over DZVT hosted by veteran local broadcaster Ferdie Data in 1999 when Zubiri was still in high school. It was sponsored by the DENR joined by hundreds of participants from all over Occidental Mindoro. 

Taxidermy

Occidental Mindoro Gov. Eduardo B. Gadiano sent an appeal to the National Museum of Natural History to perform taxidermy to preserve the remains of Kalibasib to keep the memory of the world’s most well-known tamaraw but it did not materialize for one reason or another. Instead, Gadiano commissioned a private taxidermist from Quezon City. It is expected that the preserved skull and hide or head of Kali will arrive tentatively on October 15, just in time for the celebration of the Tamaraw Month this year, said Neil Anthony Del Mundo, DENR’s Tamaraw Conservation Program coordinator. Kali's preserved head will be brought to different towns for public viewing as part of the celebration but basically still under the custody of TCP.

Also last year, Vice-Mayor Walter "Bong" Marquez of Sablayan authored a resolution supporting the preservation of Kali’s remains and further requested to be housed at Sablayan Municipal Museum, the only operational museum in Occidental Mindoro. San Jose town is also preparing its exhibition hall exclusively for Kalibasib. The DENR-TCP is likewise planning to put up a museum when they already establish its research center. 

The process of taxidermy, the art of preparing, stuffing, and mounting the skins of animals with a lifelike effect, usually needs a year to finish. The bones of Kali will also be recovered soon and placed in a museum. The DNA mapping and other genomic procedures are now being started, according to Del Mundo.

Kali Lives

There must no “Babang Luksa” (the first death anniversary which is the end of mourning in Filipino funeral tradition) in our hearts in our struggle for the environment and the tamaraws of Mindoro. The communication, education, and public awareness (CEPA) campaign must be sustained towards their protection and conservation to keep alive the memory of Kalibasib, its foremost advocate and “poster boy” ever lived. Zubiri, who has now a family, is greatly saddened by the death of the famous animal she named.

The need to integrate the cultural and development needs of the Mangyans and address the non-sustainable use of natural resources in the area. Human activities such as poaching and habitat destruction must be stopped. Without it, Kali died in vain.

With regards to CEPA, the TCP already blasted off its “Dalaw Turo” activities in the whole island of Mindoro especially those communities near the mammals’ habitat. With NGO partners, stakeholders, other government offices, the TCP does intense public awareness campaigns especially during the celebration of Tamaraw Month.

On Kali’s first death anniversary, Del Mundo fittingly puts it, “Kali will always remain an icon. Even in death, he is still the beacon of hope for his species.”

So, live on, Kali.

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Reference: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2020/10/25/kalibasib-a-symbol-of-hope-inspiration/