House Deputy Speaker and Batangas (6th District) Rep. Ralph Recto on Wednesday encouraged voters to give greater attention to the Oct. 30 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE), considering the huge budget allotted to all barangays nationwide every year.

“A barangay may be the basic government unit but together they occupy a big budgetary footprint, bigger than what is spent for public hospitals and colleges,” Recto said in a statement.

For 2024, the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) of the country’s 41,953 barangays will reach PHP174.27 billion, Recto said, citing 2024 national budget documents.

The IRA, now booked as National Tax Allotment in general appropriations documents, represents the 40 percent share of local governments from “national internal revenue taxes” collected three years before.

Recto said, this 40 percent is further divided among local government units (LGUs), with 23 percent going to provinces, 34 percent to municipalities, 23 percent to cities, and 20 percent to barangays, which is bigger than the proposed PHP105.6 billion budget of 114 state universities and colleges.

“It is six times bigger than the PHP28 billion earmarked in the proposed DOH (Department of Health) budget for medicine and vaccines. Mas mataas din sa budget ng lahat ng DOH-run hospitals (Also higher than the budget for all DOH-run hospitals),” he said.

“Halos pumantay sa PHP181.35 billion budget ng DA [Department of Agriculture] cluster sa susunod na taon. Pero kung DA proper lang, hindi kasama ang attached agencies na classified as government corporations, mas mataas ang barangay IRA kesa sa PHP108.5 billion na nakalaan para sa DA proper (Almost equivalent to PHP181.35 billion budget of DA for the next year. But if DA proper alone, excluding the attached agencies classified as government corporations, the barangay IRA is higher than the PHP108.5 billion intended for the DA proper),“ Recto said.

“If you combine what the government will spend for new classrooms, new computers, new chairs, new books, new teachers, this will not be even half of what barangays will be getting in IRA,” Recto said.

He said funds barangays are getting should be an essential part of voters’ education.

“There are 175 billion reasons as to why the electorate should choose their village leaders well,” he said.

Recto reminded everyone not to belittle the barangay saying it is the frontline government agency with an important task to do.

He said they are the true “first responders,” whether it is bag snatching, fire, garbage, loose pets or loud videoke noise.

“Pag nag-away ang magkapitbahay o kung may rambulan sa basketball, hindi naman sa pulis o piskalya yan tatakbo, kundi sa barangay (When neighbors het into fights, or when there is a rumble in basketball, they won’t run to the police or prosecutors, but to barangay),” he said.

Also, under the law, the SK is entitled to 10 percent of barangay funds, “so that will be PHP17 billion nationwide a year that will be apportioned among them,” Recto added. (PNA)